Background: Chronic expression of cylcooygenase-2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) may play an important role in gastric carcinogenesis. Thus, the purpose of our study was to assess the expression of COX-2 and iNOS messenger RNA (mRNA) in gastric cancer and to investigate the correlation between the expression of COX-2 and iNOS mRNA in these patients.
Study: Twenty-three gastric carcinoma specimens and accompanying adjacent specimens were obtained from surgical resection. The expression of COX-2 and iNOS were examined by comparative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.
Results: Cylcooygenase-2 and iNOS mRNA were significantly higher in gastric cancer tissues than in adjacent normal tissues. There was significant correlation between the levels of COX-2 and iNOS mRNA in carcinoma tissues. However, there was no significant correlation between the level of COX-2 or iNOS mRNA expression and several clinicopathologic parameters in these patients.
Conclusion: The expression of COX-2 and iNOS may be one of the factors that contribute to gastric carcinogenesis.