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Abstract
Astrocytomas are a heterogenous group of primary CNS tumors, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), grade IV is particularly aggressive. Most patients diagnosed with this tumor die within one year of the diagnosis and 5% only survive more than 5 years despite aggressive therapy. Assessment of cyclooxygenase 2 expression in various grades of astrocytomas and correlation with other clinical and histopathological variables, for prognostic or therapeutic implications. 40 cases of archived paraffin blocks of various grades of astrocytoma were tested for cyclooxygenase 2 expression by immunohistochemistry using a mouse monoclonal antibody against human Cyclooxygenase 2. COX 2 expression was detected in 38 (95%) of 40 astrocytomas with an increased percentage of tumor cells expression (strong positive expression) in grade III (100%) and grade IV (83%) cases as compared to grades I and II cases that showed higher percentage of weak positive expression, while two cases of grade I astrocytoma had negative Cox 2 expression (p value = 0.0114), i.e. tumors with higher rate of cell proliferation tended to have increased expression of COX 2, but did not show significant difference among patient age, sex and tumor location