Abstract

Background: Many experimental studies have demonstrated the importance of COX-2 in the tumor angiogenesis. Inducible iNOS is responsible for a high and stable level of nitric oxide and is expressed in response to pro-inflammatory factors.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of COX-2 and iNOS at the protein level and to assess their potential prognostic significance in patients with endometrial cancer.

Methods: The study group consisted of 45 women with endometrial cancer divided according to the degree of histological differentiation i.e. G1, 17; G2, 15; G3, 13. The control group consisted of 15 women without neoplastic changes. The expression of studied proteins was determined immunohistochemically with specific polyclonal antibodies.

Results: Analysis of the COX-2 expression showed that the optical density of the reaction product in G1 reached 186% in the control group, while the values in G2 and G3 reached 243% and 293%, respectively. In the case of iNOS, the optical density of the reaction product reached the following percentages in the control group: 147% in G1, 243% in G2, and 241% in G3.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that changes in the expression of COX-2 and iNOS may be potentially useful in predicting the progression of endometrial cancer and treatment effectiveness.

Keywords: Endometrial cancer, angiogenesis, COX-2, iNOS, neoplastic changes, molecular marker.