Association of enhanced cyclooxygenase-2 expression with possible local immunosuppression in human colorectal carcinomas

Background: Prostaglandin (PG) E, has an influence on antitumor lymphocyte reactions and causes local immunosuppression at tumor sites. The contribution of cyclooxygenase (COX), a key enzyme in PGE, synthesis, to this effect is still unclear. We examined if cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 is involved in local immunosuppression in human colon carcinoma cell lines and in clinical tumor specimens. Methods: PGE, concentrations were measured in culture media from a highly COX-2-expressing human colon carcinoma cell line (CE-1) and other cell lines. Lymphocyte proliferation in response to a mitogen was used to evaluate immunosuppression in tumor cell-lymphocyte cocultures with and without selective COX-2 inhibitor NS-398. We also evaluated expression of COX-2 mRNA in surgical specimens of colorectal carcinoma by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and COX-2 protein by immunohistochemistry, correlating COX-2 expression with clinicopathologic features. Results: CE-1 cells produced large amounts of PGE(2), which was significantly inhibited by NS-398. The proliferation index of lymphocytes cocultured with CE-1 cells was significantly less than that of control lymphocytes; again, this effect was inhibited by NS-398. While human colorectal carcinoma tissue expressed more COX-2 mRNA and protein than nonneoplastic tissue, no significant correlation was found between COX-2 levels and clinicopathologic features. Conclusions: Overexpression of COX-2 in colon cancer may cause local immunosuppressisn, and COX-2 inhibitors might be therapeutically useful against these tumors.