Expression of cyclooxygenase 2 and vascular endothelial growth factor in gastric carcinoma: Relationship with clinicopathological parameters

Background gastric cancer is one of the most common cancers and the second most common cause of cancer-related death worldwide. identification of specific prognostic indicators might allow a better prognostic stratification and more effective therapy. aim to assess the expression and relationship between cox-2 and vegf protein in gastric adenocarcinoma and whether these markers are useful in predicting clinicopathological prognostic parameters. materials and methods the study included 83 formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissue samples of excised gastric adenocarcinoma and 20 non tumorous tissue controls. the slides were subjected to cox-2 and vegf immunohistochemical staining using a streptavidin–biotinperoxidase according to the manufacturer's protocol. the results were assessed independently by two pathologists. the relationships among cox-2 and vegf expression and clinicopathological parameters were statistically analyzed. results cox-2 and vegf expressions were obviously higher in carcinoma tissues compared to normal mucosae (p < 0.001). the expression rate of cox-2 was 54.2% and of vegf was 68.7%. cox-2 positive tumors were significantly correlated with lauren classification,tumor depth and helicobacter pylori infection (p < 0.001,p = 0.008,p = 0.035). vegf was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis and tumor depth (p < 0.001). there was a positive association between vegf and cox-2 expression in gastric adenocarcinoma (kappa value = 0.55). conclusion in gastric adenocarcinoma,cox-2 expression might serve as a powerful indicator for intestinal type carcinoma,locally advanced disease and h. pylori infection,while vegf was related to loco-regional progression. cox-2 might be involved in the development of angiogenesis in gastric carcinoma through vegf upregulation. © 2016 national cancer institute,cairo university