OBJECTIVE To investigate the expressions of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and their clinical significance in identifying the progression and prognosis of the NSCLC patients. METHODS Immunohistochemical indirect method was used to detect the expressions of the COX-2 and HER-2 protein in 54 NSCLC specimens, 16 paraneoplastic specimens, and 10 normal tissue specimens. RESULTS The positive rates of COX-2 and HER-2 protein expressions were respectively 75.9% and 40.7% in the NSCLC specimens, 25% and 12.5% in the paraneoplastic specimens, and 0 in the normal tissue. The COX-2 protein expression in lung cancer (LC) was not only related to the smoking habit of the patients and histological grades of LC, but also to the TNM stages, and lymphatic metastasis ( P < 0.05). HER-2 protein expression closely correlated to the pathologic types, histological grades, TNM stages, and lymphatic metastasis ( P < 0.05). The result of univariate analysis showed that all the histological grades, TNM stages, lymphatic metastasis, and expressions of COX-2/HER-2 correlated to the prognosis of NSCLC patients (mean of P value < 0.01). The multivariate survival analysis indicated that there were significant differences in comparison of the survival time between the COX-2 (++/+++) /HER-2 (++/+++) and the COX-2 (-+)/HER-2 (-/+) groups ( P < 0.001), suggesting the COX-2/HER-2 was a negative prognostic factor. CONCLUSION COX-2 and HER-2 are valuable in identifying the progression of NSCLC and predicting the prognosis of NSCLC patients. COX-2 and HER-2 are useful for judging the NSCLC patient’s condition, and are of great value to the decision of NSCLC prognosis.
