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COX‐2 overexpression in sinonasal inverted papilloma
Author(s) -
Suh Jeffrey D.,
PalmaDiaz Fernando,
Bhuta Sunita,
Wang Marilene B.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
international forum of allergy and rhinology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.503
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 2042-6984
pISSN - 2042-6976
DOI - 10.1002/alr.21218
Subject(s) - medicine , inverted papilloma , immunohistochemistry , paranasal sinuses , malignancy , nasal cavity , proportional hazards model , pathology , papilloma , surgery
Background Inverted papilloma (IP) is a benign, but locally aggressive neoplasm of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses. The mainstay of treatment of IP is surgical resection, but high rates of tumor recurrence have been reported. Cyclo‐oxygenase‐2 (COX‐2) has been found to be overexpressed in many tumors and has been used successfully as a therapeutic target. The goal of this study is to highlight COX‐2 expression in IP. Methods Immunohistochemistry for COX‐2 was performed on IP samples obtained during surgical resection between January 2012 and June 2013. The intensity of staining was evaluated by 2 head and neck pathologists blinded to the clinical features and outcomes. A positive stain was defined as having 10% or more of tumor cells exhibiting immunoreactivity. Results The study includes 13 tumor samples from 7 females and 6 males. Mean age was 54.5 (range, 18–81) years. Tumor locations included: nasal septum (1), ethmoid (3), sphenoid (4), and maxillary (5) sinuses. No tumors demonstrated malignancy or dysplasia. Five (38%) of the 13 IP samples stained strongly positive for COX‐2, and 3 of 13 (23%) stained weakly positive. There were no clinical differences in patients that stained strongly or weakly for COX‐2. Conclusion COX‐2 overexpression was identified in 62% of cases of IP in this study, and strongly positive in 38% of cases. Larger studies are necessary to identify the true incidence of COX‐2 expression for this tumor. Pharmaceuticals targeting COX‐2 may eventually provide an additional therapeutic option for select cases of recurrent or unresectable IP.