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Systematic review: cyclo‐oxygenase‐2 in human oesophageal adenocarcinogenesis
Author(s) -
MEHTA S.,
BODDY A.,
JOHNSON I. T.,
RHODES M.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
alimentary pharmacology and therapeutics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.308
H-Index - 177
eISSN - 1365-2036
pISSN - 0269-2813
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2036.2006.03119.x
Subject(s) - dysplasia , oxygenase , medicine , adenocarcinoma , intestinal metaplasia , human studies , metaplasia , ex vivo , heme oxygenase , in vivo , cancer research , pathology , cancer , gene , biology , enzyme , genetics , biochemistry , heme
Summary Background Published in vitro and animal in vivo studies have demonstrated that cyclo‐oxygenase‐2 plays an important role during oesophageal adenocarcinogenesis. However, the extent to which these studies are directly relevant to events in the human lower oesophagus is questionable. Aim To perform a systematic review of all available human studies that have evaluated levels of cyclo‐oxygenase‐2 expression during the progression from Barrett's metaplasia to oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Methods A literature search was performed to identify all studies which qualitatively or quantitatively assessed cyclo‐oxygenase‐2 protein or gene expression in either Barrett's, dysplastic or adenocarcinoma tissue in humans. Results A total of 27 studies met the inclusion criteria. There was general agreement that cyclo‐oxygenase‐2 was either absent or very weakly expressed in normal oesophageal squamous mucosa, but considerable disagreement regarding the presence of cyclo‐oxygenase‐2 in Barrett's and low‐grade dysplasia. All studies agreed that high‐grade dysplasia and adenocarcinoma expressed cyclo‐oxygenase‐2 to some extent although levels varied considerably between tissue samples. Conclusions There is conflicting evidence in the literature for cyclo‐oxygenase‐2 playing an important role in early oesophageal adenocarcinogenesis. Other non‐cyclo‐oxygenase‐2 targets may account for the epidemiological data supporting the use of non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs in the chemoprevention of oesophageal adenocarcinoma.