Clinical Implication of Cyclooxygenase-2 Expression for Rectal Cancer Patients with Lymph Node Involvement

Purpose: To assess the influence of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression on the survival of patients with a combination of rectal cancer and lymph node metastasis. Materials and Methods: The study included rectal cancer patients treated by radical surgery and postoperative radiotherapy at the Dong-A university hospital from 1998 to 2004. A retrospective analysis was performed on a subset of patients that also had lymph node metastasis. After excluding eight of 86 patients, due to missing tissue samples in three, malignant melanoma in one, treatment of gastric cancer around one year before diagnosis in one, detection of lung cancer after one year of diagnosis in one, liver metastasis in one, and refusal of radiotherapy after 720 cGy in one, 78 patients were analyzed. The immunohistochemistry for COX-2 was conducted with an autostainer (BenchMark; Ventana, Tucson, AZ, USA). An image analyzer (TissueMine; Bioimagene, Cupertino, CA, USA) was used for analysis after scanning (ScanScope; Aperio, Vista, CA, USA). A survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan Meier method and significance was evaluated using the log rank test. Results: COX-2 was stained positively in 62 patients (79.5%) and negatively in 16 (20.5%). A total of 6 (7.7%), 15 (19.2%), and 41 (52.6%) patients were of grades 1, 2, and 3, respectively for COX-2 expression. No correlation was found between being positive of COX-2 patient characteristics, which include age (<60-year old vs. $\geq$60), sex, operation methods (abdominoperineal resection vs. lower anterior resection), degrees of differentiation, tumor size (<5 cm vs. $\geq$5 cm), T stages, N stages, and stages (IIIa, IIIb, IIIc). The 5-year overall and 5-year disease free survival rates for the entire patient population were 57.0% and 51.6%, respectively. The 5-year overall survival rates for the COX-2 positive and negative patients were 53.0% and 72.9%, respectively (p=0.146). Further, the 5-year disease free survival rates for the COX-2 positive and negative patients were 46.3% and 72.7%, respectively (p=0.118). The 5-year overall survival rates were significantly different (p<0.05) for the degree of differentiation, N stage, and stage, whereas the 5-year disease free survival rates were significant for N stage and stage. Conclusion: Being positive for and the degree of COX-2 expression did not have a significant influence on the survival of rectal cancer patients with lymph node metastasis. However, N stage and stage did significantly influence the rateof survival. Further analysis of a greater sample size is necessary for the verification of the effect of COX-2 expression on the survival of rectal cancer patients with lymph node involvement.

림프절 전이를 동반한 직장암 환자들에서 Cyclooxygenase-2 발현의 임상적 의미

목 적: 림프절 전이가 동반된 직장암 환자들에서 cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) 발현이 생존율에 미치는 영향을 조사 하고자 한다. 대상 및 방법: 1998년부터 2004년까지 직장암으로 동아대병원에서 근치적 수술과 수술 후 방사선치료를 받은 환자들 중에서 림프절 전이가 동반된 경우를 대상으로 후향적분석을 하였다. 86명 중에서 수술 후 조직을 찾을 수 없는 3명, 악성 흑색종 1명, 진단 전후 2년 내에 위암과 폐암이 발생한 각 1명, 진단 시에 간 전이가 있었던 1명, 720 cGy 후 방사선치료를 거부한 1명 등을 제외한 78명을 대상으로 분석하였다. COX-2에 대한 면역조직화학염색은 자동면역염색기로 하였고, 스캔한 후, 영상분석기를 이용하여 분석하였다. Kaplan-Meier 생존율 분석을 하였고, Log rank 검사로 유의성을 조사하였다. 결 과: 면역조직화학염색에서 COX-2 양성이 62명(79.5%), 음성이 16명(20.5%)이었고, 양성도가 1, 2, 3인 환자들이 각각 6명(7.7%), 15명(19.2%), 41명(52.6%)이었다. 환자의 나이(60세 미만, 이상), 성별, 수술 방법(복회음절제술, 하위전방절제술), 세포의 분화도, 종양의 크기(5 cm 미만, 5 cm 이상), T병기, N병기, 병기(IIIa, IIIb, IIIc), 등에 따른 COX-2 발현의 차이는 없었다. 전체 환자의 5년 생존율과 무병생존율은 각각 57.0%, 51.6%였다. COX-2 음성과 양성인 환자들의 5년 생존율이 72.9%와 53.0% (p=0.146), 5년 무병생존율이 72.7%와 46.3% (p=0.118)였다. COX-2 양성도가 0, 1, 2, 3인 환자들의 5년 생존율은 각각 72.9, 50.0 51.3, 53.1%였고(p=0.495), 5년 무병생존율은 각각 72.7, 50.0, 46.7, 45.1%였다(p=0.451). 5년 생존율은 악성종양 세포의 분화도, N병기, 병기, 등에 따라서, 5년 무병생존율은 N병기, 병기, 등에 따라서 유의한 차이가 있었다(p<0.05). 결 론: 림프절 전이가 동반된 직장암 환자에서 COX-2의 발현 여부와 정도는 생존율에 유의한 영향을 주지는 않았다. 하지만 향후 보다 많은 환자군을 대상으로 연구하여, COX-2 발현이 직장암의 예후에 미치는 영향을 규명해야 할 것으로 생각된다.