Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
High COX-2 and EGFR levels linked to aggressive malignant mammary
By Guimarães, M J et al.·Published in Journal of comparative pathology·2014·University of Porto·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Concurrent expression of cyclo-oxygenase-2 and epidermal growth factor receptor in canine malignant mammary tumours.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study looked at 43 dogs with malignant mammary tumors and found that high levels of two proteins, COX-2 and EGFR, were linked to more aggressive cancer characteristics, like larger tumor size and spread to lymph nodes. The researchers noted that when both proteins were highly expressed, it indicated a worse prognosis for the dog. They suggest that using medications that specifically target both COX-2 and EGFR could be an effective treatment strategy for these tumors.
People also search for: dog mammary tumor treatment · COX-2 inhibitors for dogs · EGFR in canine cancer
Abstract
Canine mammary tumours (CMTs) are reported to express cyclo-oxygenase (COX)-2 and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR); however, no studies have evaluated concurrent expression of these proteins. In this study, 43 malignant CMTs were evaluated immunohistochemically for concurrent expression of COX-2 and EGFR and expression was correlated with malignancy. High COX-2 expression was associated with tumour size (P = 0.033), mitotic index (P = 0.040), nuclear grade (P = 0.021), histological grade of malignancy (P = 0.020) and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.029). High EGFR immunoreactivity was associated with tumour size (P = 0.001), necrosis (P = 0.001), mitotic index (P = 0.022), histological grade of malignancy (P = 0.041) and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.005). Simultaneous high-expression of COX-2 and EGFR was associated with high-nuclear grade (P = 0.049), high-histological grade of malignancy (P = 0.031) and the presence of lymph node metastasis (P = 0.025). A positive correlation between COX-2 and EGFR expression (r = 0.474; P = 0.001) was also observed. These results suggest that combined use of selective inhibitors of COX-2 and EGFR may be a useful approach to the treatment of malignant CMTs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24060154/