Cyclooxygenase-2 and Ki-67 Predict Outcomes in Early Glottic Cancer
9/24/2006 Montreal, Quebec, Canada Alison Palkhivala www.docguide.com Overexpression of the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and Ki-67 proteins is a marker of poor outcome in patients with stage I or II glottic cancer and can be used to help tailor therapy, researchers reported here at the 26th International Congress of the International Academy of Pathology (IAP). Involvement of COX-2 in glottic cancer suggests that currently available COX-2 inhibitors may play a role in the treatment of this disease, the researchers said. Finding molecular markers that predict disease course and/or response to therapy is an important goal in the management of all cancers. The researchers say they looked at cyclooxygenase-2, Ki-67, and p53 expression in glottic cancer to see if they had any prognostic value, said Melanie K. Sackett, MD, pathologist, Centre hospitalier universitaire, L'Hôtel-Dieu de Quebec Hospital, Quebec, Canada. The researchers performed immunohistochemical analyses on preradiation biopsies taken from 301 patients with stage I or II glottic squamous cell carcinoma who were participating in a clinical trial evaluating the effect of vitamin E on rate of secondary recurrences of head and neck cancers. "We found a correlation between COX-2 overexpression and increased overall mortality, with a hazard ratio [HR] of 1.68 when we adjusted for age and trial arm," she said during a poster presentation on September 19th. Overexpression of Ki-67 was associated with all cause mortality, with an HR of 1.59 and with the development of a secondary primary cancer, with an HR of 2.34. There was no relationship between p53 overexpression [...]