Cyclooxygenase-2 Expression and Its Correlation with Primary Tumor Size and Lymph Node Involvement in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

AIM: This study aimed to observe the cyclooxygenase-2 expression and its correlation with tumour size and lymph node involvement in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. METHODS: This study was cross-sectional, that enrolled 126 samples diagnosed with nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Haji Adam Malik General Hospital, Medan, Indonesia which fulfilled the inclusion criteria. RESULTS: Based on this study, we found that the age peak incidence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients about a 41-60-year-old group (57.1%), dominated by men (71.4%). Through histopathological examination, non-keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma is the most predominant type (79.4%). We also found T3 is the most prevalent primary tumour size (32.5%) with prominent lymph node involvement N3 (45.2%), and stage IV (54.8%). Cyclooxygenase-2 overexpression is prevalent among nonkeratinizing squamous cell carcinoma (81.1%), T3 primary tumour size (41.1%), N3 node involvement (60.0%), and IV clinical stage (71.6%). In addition, we found a significant relationship between cyclooxygenase-2 expressions towards tumor size (p < 0.001) and lymph node involvement (p < 0.001) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. CONCLUSION: It is proved that the overexpression of cyclooxygenase-2 will increase the susceptibility of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients having advanced primary tumour size and lymph node involvement.