Background and objective: Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors have been shown to exert chemopreventive effects against gastrointestinal carcinomas. This study was to investigate the effect of celecoxib, a selective COX-2 inhibitor, on the expression of E-cadherin and serum levels of soluble E-cadherin in gastric carcinomas.
Methods: Fifty-nine gastric carcinoma patients were randomly divided into two groups: surgery group (n=22) and celecoxib plus surgery group (n=37). Patients in the surgery group underwent surgical resection after diagnosis, while patients in the celecoxib plus surgery group received oral celecoxib, 200 mg twice daily for six days before curative resection. Twenty healthy subjects were recruited as normal controls. COX-2 and E-cadherin expressions were detected by immunohistochemistry. Serum levels of soluble E-cadherin were quantitatively measured using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit.
Results: Compared to the surgery group, the expression of COX-2 was significantly lower while that of E-cadherin was significantly higher in celecoxib plus surgery group. The concentrations of serum soluble E-cadherin before treatment were significantly higher in the surgery [(53.47+/-9.62) ng/mL] and the celecoxib plus surgery [(51.57+/-9.79) ng/mL] groups than in the control group [(37.17+/-5.38) ng/ml] (P<0.01). The soluble E-cadherin levels after surgery in both groups [(39.29+/-7.72) ng/mL and (29.29+/-8.28) ng/mL] were significantly lower than those before surgery (P<0.01). The soluble E-cadherin level on the sixth day [(44.11+/-8.36) ng/mL] was significantly lower than that before treatment in the celecoxib plus surgery group (P<0.01).
Conclusion: Short-term preoperative treatment of celecoxib up-regulates the expression of E-cadherin in gastric carcinomas.