Bayomi E.A.Barakat A.B.El-Bassuoni M.A.Talaat R.M.El-Deftar M.M.Wahab S.A.A.Metwally A.M.Botany and Genetics DepartmentFaculty of DentistryOctober University for Modern Sciences and ArtsEgypt; Medical Molecular Genetics DepartmentHuman Genetics and Genome Research DivisionNational Research CenterCairoEgypt; Microbiology DepartmentFaculty of ScienceAin Shams UniversityCairoEgypt; Clinical Pathology DepartmentFaculty of MedicineMenoufia UniversityAl MinufyaEgypt; Microbiology and Immunology DepartmentGenetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research InstituteEl Sadat UniversityCairoEgypt; Pathology DepartmentNational Cancer InstituteCairo UniversityCairoEgypt; Cancer Biology DepartmentNational Cancer InstituteCairo UniversityCairoEgypt; Department of Technology of Medical LaboratoryCollege of Applied Medical SciencesMisr University for Science and TechnologyP. O. Box 77CairoEgypt2020-01-092020-01-0920159731482https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-1482.147692PubMed ID : 26881519https://t.ly/GggwbScopusBackground: Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), the inducible rate-limiting enzyme of prostaglandins biosynthesis, is involved in the pathogenesis of many chronic inflammation-related human malignancies including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, its clinical significance in HCC remains obscure. The aim of our study was to evaluate COX-2 expression in HCC and correlate its expression to both clinicopathological parameters and patients survival. Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted on 17 HCC and 21 adjacent nontumor liver tissues obtained from 22 HCC patients underwent hepatectomy. Eight normal liver tissues taken from normal donors and HepG2 cells were used as controls. Total RNA was extracted and COX-2 mRNA was detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and correlated to the clinicopathological criteria and to patient's survival. Results: COX-2 mRNA was detected in 58.8% of the HCC tissues and in 28.6% of the adjacent nontumor liver tissues. COX-2 expression was significantly associated with elevated levels of serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) with high specificity for disease detection. There was no significance between COX-2 expression and any of the histopathological criteria. Conclusions: COX-2 expression may be involved in HCC carcinogenesis with high specificity for disease detection. COX-2 expression is significantly associated with elevated AST levels indicating a mechanism that may correlate both markers. However COX-2 expression seems to be an independent factor with no correlation to any of the histopathological data or patient's survival. � 2015 Journal of Cancer Research and Therapeutics | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow.EnglishOctober University for Modern Sciences and Artsجامعة أكتوبر للعلوم الحديثة والآدابUniversity of Modern Sciences and ArtsMSA UniversityAspartate aminotransferasecyclooxygenase-2hepatocellular carcinomasensitivityspecificityaspartate aminotransferasecyclooxygenase 2aspartate aminotransferasecyclooxygenase 2PTGS2 protein, humantumor markeradultArticleaspartate aminotransferase blood levelcancer prognosiscancer survivalcarcinogenesisclinical articlecontrolled studydisease free survivalfemalegene expressionHepG2 cell linehistopathologyhumanhuman cellhuman tissueliver cell carcinomaliver resectionmalesensitivity and specificitycancer gradingCarcinoma, Hepatocellularcase control studycomparative studyenzyme immunoassayfollow upgeneticsliverLiver Neoplasmsmetabolismmiddle agedpathologyprognosissurvival ratetumor invasiontumor recurrenceAspartate AminotransferasesBiomarkers, TumorCarcinoma, HepatocellularCase-Control StudiesCyclooxygenase 2FemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansImmunoenzyme TechniquesLiverLiver NeoplasmsMaleMiddle AgedNeoplasm GradingNeoplasm InvasivenessNeoplasm Recurrence, LocalPrognosisSurvival RateArticlehttps://doi.org/10.4103/0973-1482.147692PubMed ID : 26881519