Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
High Cox-2 levels linked to aggressive mammary tumors in female dogs
By Queiroga, Felisbina Luisa et al.·Published in Anticancer research·2005·Department of Veterinary Sciences·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Cox-2 levels in canine mammary tumors, including inflammatory mammary carcinoma: clinicopathological features and prognostic significance.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study looked at 129 mammary tumors from 57 female dogs to understand the role of a protein called Cox-2 in these tumors, especially in a severe type known as inflammatory mammary carcinoma (IMC). The researchers found that dogs with IMC had the highest levels of Cox-2, which was linked to worse outcomes, including higher chances of the cancer coming back and spreading. This suggests that measuring Cox-2 levels could help predict how serious the cancer is and might lead to new treatment options for dogs with this type of mammary cancer.
People also search for: dog mammary tumor treatment · inflammatory mammary carcinoma in dogs · high Cox-2 levels in dog cancer
Abstract
Cyclo-oxygenase (Cox-2) plays an important role in mammary carcinogenesis, nevertheless, its role in canine mammary tumors, and particularly in inflammatory mammary carcinoma (IMC), is unknown. Tumor Cox-2 levels were analyzed by enzyme immunoassay, in post-surgical tumor homogenates of 129 mammary tumors (62 dysplasias and benign tumors, 57 malignant non-IMC and 10 IMC) from 57 female dogs. The highest Cox-2 values were detected in the IMC group. In non-IMC malignant tumors, high values of Cox-2 were related to skin ulceration (p < 0.001) and tumor size (p < 0.001). The follow-up study revealed that high Cox-2 levels were related with recurrence (p = 0.002), metastases (p < 0.001), disease-free survival (p < 0.001) and overall survival (p < 0.001). This study demonstrates an association between intra-tumor Cox-2 levels and poor prognosis. The high levels found in IMC cases could indicate a special role of Cox-2 in the inflammatory phenotype and open the possibility of additional new therapeutic approaches in this special type of mammary cancer in humans and dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16309227/