Enzyme Linked to Uterine Cancer

A study has found a link between cancer of the uterus and the enzyme cyclo-oxydase-2 (COX-2), also implicated in the inflammation associated with arthritis and the spread of colon cancer. The study was published in the July 17, 2002, issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

In the study, Dr. Serdar Bulun, of the Cancer Center at the University of Illinois, Chicago (www.uic.edu), cultured malignant epithelial cells from the uterine lining alongside normal cells from the same kind of tissue. When the cells interacted, the malignant tissue induced the normal tissue to increase production of the COX-2 enzyme. Level of certain prostaglandins also rose. As other researchers have shown, COX-2 and its product prostaglandins set off a cascade of molecular events, including an abnormal increase in estrogen, that leads to tumor growth.

Dr. Bulun also found increased levels of COX-2 and its product prostaglandins in endometriosis. COX-2 and prostaglandins are also involved in the spread of tumors, such as in colon cancer. They reduce the rate of cell death, increase the invasiveness of malignancies, and promote the growth of blood vessels that deliver nourishment to tumors. In prior studies, Dr. Bulun found that the prostaglandins manufactured by COX-2 stimulate the production of estrogen. Cancer of the uterus, as well as certain kinds of breast cancer and endometriosis, depend on estrogen for fuel.

"The findings suggest that everyday drugs like aspirin or ibuprofen—nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that block the COX-2 enzyme—might be tried as treatments for uterine cancer in combination with other therapies,” said Dr. Bulun.






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