Tight Junction Protein (Claudin-4) and Inflammatory Regulator (COX-2) Expression in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: An Immunohistochemical Study | ||||
| The Medical Journal of Cairo University | ||||
| Article 47, Volume 87, December, December 2019, Page 4387-4395 PDF (833.6 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/mjcu.2019.78256 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Author | ||||
| RASHA M. ABDRABUH, M.D.; RANIA G. ROSHDY, M.D. | ||||
| The Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Abstract Background: Claudin 4 is one of the tight junction proteins which considered one of the protective barriers that are mostly involved in the regulation of intercellular communication, paracellular transport and apical cell-to-cell adhesion. Over-expression of COX-2 and subsequent increase in prostaglandins (PGs) concentration have emerged in recent years as important players in cancer progression. Aim of Study: To explore immunohisto chemically the expression of both claudin-4 and COX2 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and correlate their expression with each other and with different clinicopathological parameters. Material and Methods: This retrospective study was done upon formalin fixed, paraffin blocks of 32 nasopharngeal carcinoma cases and 6 non-neoplastic nasopharyngeal epithe-lium. The materials were obtained from archieves of Pathology Departement and Early Cancer Detection Unit (ECDU), Faculty of Medicine, Benha University during the years 2012- 2017. The immunohistochemical stain with Claudin 4 and COX2 was done and evaluated for each case. Results: High expression of claudin 4 was observed in 44% of studied nasopharyngeal cases with statistically signif-icant correlation with tumor stage and distant metastasis (p<0.05). Positive expression of COX2 was detected in 75% of neoplastic group and statistically correlated with depth of tumor invasion, nodal invasion and tumor stage (p<0.05). A statistically significant correlation was detected between overexpression of COX2 and low expression of claudin4 in the studied neoplastic cases (p<0.05). Conclusion: Claudin -4 has different tumorigenic effects besides their known adhesion attributes. Because of that, we believe that claudin 4 with other clinicopahological parameters may be a promising prognostic molecular indicator in na-sopharyngeal cancer cases and can be taken as a novel bi-omarker for the predication of distant metastasis and survival. This work also highlights COX-2 expression's potential as an indicator of cancer progression that can contribute to assess-ment of prognosis and treatment decisions. Therefore, COX-2 inhibitors may have considerable potential as therapeutic agents. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Claudin-4 – COX2 – Nasopharyngeal carcinoma | ||||
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