Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
High COX-2 levels in dog mast cell tumors link to faster growth
By Gregório, H et al.·Published in Veterinary and comparative oncology·2017·CHV·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: High COX-2 expression in canine mast cell tumours is associated with proliferation, angiogenesis and decreased overall survival.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study found that dogs with mast cell tumors (a type of skin cancer) often had high levels of a protein called COX-2, which is linked to tumor growth and blood vessel formation. In 50 dogs evaluated, those with higher COX-2 levels tended to have more aggressive tumors and a shorter survival time. This suggests that measuring COX-2 could help vets predict how serious the cancer is and guide treatment options. Understanding COX-2's role may lead to better therapies for dogs with mast cell tumors.
People also search for: dog mast cell tumor prognosis · COX-2 in dog cancer · treatment for dog skin tumors
Abstract
COX-2 overexpression is associated with several hallmarks of carcinogenesis such as proliferation, angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis. Fifty cases of canine mast cell tumours (MCT) were retrospectively evaluated and submitted to immunohistochemistry for COX-2, CD31, Ki-67, MAC-387 and CD3. Furthermore its relationship with clinicopathological variables and overall survival (OS) was analysed. COX-2 intensity (P = 0.016), but not COX-2 extension nor score was associated with decreased OS and higher grades of malignancy according to Patnaik (P = 0.002) and Kiupel (P < 0.001) grading systems. Cox-2 intensity was also associated with higher Ki-67 scores (P = 0.009), higher mitotic index (P = 0.022) and higher microvascularization density (P = 0.045). No association was observed for COX-2 intensity and CD3-T lymphocyte (P = 0.377) and macrophage infiltration (P = 0.261) by MAC-387 immunollabelling, suggesting an active role of COX-2 in MCT oncogenesis mainly through proliferation and angiogenesis stimulation making it a potentially clinical relevant prognosis marker and therapeutic target.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28467670/