COX-2 inhibitor boosts certain pancreas cancers in mice

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Painkiller boosts certain pancreas cancers in mice

Last Updated: 2004-03-30 15:23:46 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Rauscher

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters Health) - A selective COX-2 inhibitor -- a

type of drug familiar to arthritis suffers -- enhances the growth of

COX-2-negative pancreatic tumors in mice. In COX-2-positive tumors, the

opposite is true.

" We have shown for the first time in vivo that a selective COX-2

inhibitor can stimulate tumor growth, " Dr. Guido E. Eibl told Reuters

Health. " Our studies probably define a subset of patients who should not

take COX-2 inhibitors, " he added.

Eibl, a researcher in the Hirshberg Pancreatic Cancer Laboratory at the

UCLA School of Medicine in Los Angeles, described the findings during

the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

In the study, COX-2-negative and COX-2-positive human pancreatic tumor

cells were injected into the flank and pancreas of mice; this was

followed by injection of nimesulide, a COX-2 inhibitor used widely

outside the U.S. to treat arthritis.

In mice with pancreatic cancer expressing COX-2, nimesulide decreased

tumor growth. But " surprisingly, " Eibl said, in those with

COX-2-negative tumors, there was a significant increase in tumor growth.

Up to 40 percent of all human pancreatic cancers are COX-2 negative.

According to Eibl, three other COX-2 inhibitors gave similar results in

test tube experiments.

When considering treating people who have pancreatic cancer with a COX-2

inhibitor, Eibl said, " probably the COX-2 expression profile of the

pancreatic tumor should be determined. "

I'll tell you where to go!

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

s Hopkins Medicine

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org