[Expression and clinical significance of cyclooxygenase-2 in medulloblastoma]

To gain an insight into the possible relationship between the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and the prognosis of the patients with medulloblastoma.

COX-2 expression was investigated in 52 medulloblastoma and 10 normal cerebellar tissue specimens by immunohistochemistry. Kaplan-Meier analyses, Log-rank test, and Cox proportional hazard model were used to explore the relationship between the percentage of COX-2 expression and the survival period of patients with medulloblastoma.

Positive staining with COX-2 was either moderately or strongly observed in most of the medulloblastoma (51/52). Moreover, COX-2 was expressed not only in tumor cells, but also in the vascular endothelial cells of tumor. No COX-2 immunoreactivity was observed in normal cerebellar tissue. Kaplan-Meier analyses demonstrated that high COX-2 expression (> or = 50% of cells stained positive) correlated with poor survival for the study group as a whole (P < 0.0001).

Our study provides evidence that COX-2 is expressed in the majority of medulloblastomas and that a potential role of COX-2 inhibitors as an adjuvant therapy for brain tumors may exist.