Cyclooxygenase-2 immunohistochemical expression is associated with worse prognosis in breast cancer: Retrospective study and literature review

OBJECTIVES: To assess the immunohistochemistry phenotype of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in breast cancer (BC) and to correlate it with histological and clinical prognostic factors. METHODS: This retrospective study utilized COX-2 monoclonal antibody in an immunohistochemistry staining of tissue microarrays slides of 570 cases of previously diagnosed BC and with 52 of normal breast tissues from breast specimens resected for benign lesions or reconstruction (fibroadenoma and normal breast epithelium). This project was carried out in the Laboratory of pathology, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, between September 2019 and September 2021. RESULTS: The present data showed an important connection between the COX-2 expression phenotype and BC compared to benign breast tissues (p=0.034). The expression pattern of COX-2 was allied significantly with some factors which distinguished aggressive subtypes of BC, such as stage, distant metastases, lymphovascular invasion, and poor survival. CONCLUSION: Cyclooxygenase-2 is a valuable marker that could facilitate BC diagnosis and prognosis.