Abstract
AIM: To evaluate the clinical significance of -765G/C and -1195G/A cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) gene polymorphisms in patients with pancreatic cancer (PC). METHODS: The study included 201 patients: 85 with PC and 116 healthy controls. -765G/C and -1195G/A COX-2 gene polymorphisms were studied in DNA isolated from blood samples. The associations of the analyzed genotypes and clinical data at diagnosis were evaluated. RESULTS: We found an increased frequency of the homozygous -1195AA COX-2 genotype in patients with PC (53.7%) compared with the control group (21%) (P < 0.01). In contrast, the distribution of genotype and allele frequencies of the -765G/C COX-2 polymorphism in the PC patients were not different from those in control groups. A correlation between presence of homozygous -1195AA COX-2 genotype and tumor size > 3 cm was observed (P < 0.05). Analyzed polymorphisms were unrelated to the patients' sex and age, nor to the presence of regional or distant metastases. CONCLUSION: These preliminary results indicate that the -1195G/A COX-2 polymorphism may play an important role in PC prognosis and carcinogenesis.