Expression of NF-kappaB and COX-2 in young versus older patients with sporadic colorectal cancer.

AIM To distinguish the expression of NF-kappaB and COX-2 between young and older group of sporadic colorectal cancer patients. METHODS This was a comparative study between sporadic CRC patients aged 40 years or younger and patients aged 60 years or more. Expression of NF-kappaB and COX-2 were assessed by immunohistochemical method using rabbit polyclonal antibodies against human p65 NF-kappaB and COX-2 proteins. RESULTS There were 98 cases of sporadic colorectal cancers between 1999 and 2007 obtained from the Department of Anatomical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine University of Indonesia, Jakarta and Department of Anatomical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine Padjajaran University, Bandung. There were 60 patients aged 60 years or more and 38 patients aged 40 years or less. Most tumors were located in the distal colon. Positive expression of NF-kappaB was found in 72 (73.5%) cases, whereas COX-2 expression was found in 48 (49.0%) cases. No significant difference of NF-kappaB and COX-2 expression between young and older patients. CONCLUSION The expression of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) in Indonesian patients with sporadic colorectal cancer was high. However, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) was only expressed in half of patients. There was no significant difference of NF-kappaB and COX-2 expressions between patients aged 40 years or less and patients aged 60 years or more. Further studies are needed to elaborate the role of inflammation in sporadic colorectal carcinogenesis.