Objective To investigate the expression and clinical significance of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in human breast cancer with meta-analyses.
Methods The published studies were searched in the CBM, CNKI, VIP and WanFang databases, and other relevant journals were also handsearched to identify all the relevant case-control trials. The quality of the included studies was assessed. The Cochrane Collaboration’s software RevMan 4.2.10 was used to test the heterogeneity, overall effect and publication bias of the combined studies.
Results A total of 8 studies were recruited. As for the positive rate of COX-2 expression, significant differences were tested between breast cancer vs. normal breast tissues, cell differentiation G1 vs. cell differentiation G2-G3 with OR (95%CI) at 16.36 (9.18, 29.15) and 0.34 (0.18, 0.63), respectively. No significant difference was tested between lymph node metastasi vs. non-lymph node metastasi, clinical stages I-II vs. clinical stages III-IV with OR (95%CI) at 1.36 (0.61, 3.03) and 0.61 (0.34, 1.10), respectively.
Conclusion According to the domestic evidence, COX-2 may be participated the whole course of carcinogenesis of breast cancer, but is not the absolute factor for estimating the survival rate of the patients with breast cancer, and more high-quality studies are expected for further study.
Citation： LI Man,JU Lirong,XU Lina. Expression and Clinical Significance of Cyclooxygenase-2 in Breast Cancer: A Meta-analysis. Chinese Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine, 2011, 11(5): 524-528. doi: 10.7507/1672-2531.20110094 Copy