Abstract
Cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2) is a key enzyme in the conversion of arachidonic acid to prostaglandins that has been shown to have a particular importance in the progression of several malignancies including nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). In the current report, we designed a case-controlled study to evaluate the susceptibility and prognostic implications of the functional −765 G > C genetic variation in NPC. A PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis was used to determine the polymorphism in a Tunisian population of patients with NPC (n = 180) and in healthy control subjects (n = 169). A higher risk for NPC was observed for carriers of COX-2 −765 C allele (OR = 1.76; P = 0.01). This association remains significant after adjustments for age and sex (OR = 1.89; P = 0.008). Regarding prognostic indicators, a significant association was found between −765 C allele carriers and the presence of lymph node metastasis (OR = 2.28; P = 0.01), as well as, with tumor stage (OR = 2.73; P = 0.03). This is the first report on the studies of COX-2 SNPs in NPC and our data suggest that this genetic variant may play a role in mediating susceptibility to NPC, as well as, in neoplastic progression, a finding which further supports the involvement of COX-2 in NPC etiology.
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Abbreviations
- DFS:
-
Disease-free survival
- NPC:
-
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma
- OVS:
-
Overall survival
- SNP:
-
Single nucleotide polymorphism
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by le Ministère de la Recherche Scientifique de Technologie et du développement des Compétences, le Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur, le Ministère de la Santé Publique de la République Tunisienne. We gratefully acknowledge the technical assistance of S. Gabbouj. We thank the staff of the Departments of Radiation Oncology and Medical Oncology of CHU F. Hached, Sousse, for providing samples and clinical information.
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Hela Ben Nasr and Karim Chahed contributed equally to the study.
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Ben Nasr, H., Chahed, K., Bouaouina, N. et al. PTGS2 (COX-2) −765 G > C functional promoter polymorphism and its association with risk and lymph node metastasis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Mol Biol Rep 36, 193–200 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-007-9166-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-007-9166-3