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COX-2 makes the inflammatory prostaglandins that help tumours grow; aspirin and celecoxib block it, which is why they reduce colorectal polyps and are studied for cancer prevention.
Prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (COX-2) is induced by inflammation and is overexpressed in colorectal adenomas and many carcinomas, where prostaglandin E2 drives proliferation, angiogenesis and immune suppression. Celecoxib was approved to reduce polyps in familial adenomatous polyposis (later withdrawn from that indication) and low-dose aspirin lowers colorectal cancer risk in long-term trials; COX-2 inhibition remains a live prevention and adjuvant question.
In plain words · COX-2 makes the inflammatory prostaglandins that help tumours grow; aspirin and celecoxib block it, which is why they reduce colorectal polyps and are studied for cancer prevention.
COX-2 makes the inflammatory prostaglandins that help tumours grow; aspirin and celecoxib block it, which is why they reduce colorectal polyps and are studied for cancer prevention.
An inducible cyclooxygenase converting arachidonic acid to prostaglandin H2; PGE2 acts through EP receptors on tumour and immune cells.
1 product aims at COX-2 (PTGS2): small molecules. Inhibitors are shaped to fit the enzyme's active site so the reaction the cancer relies on stops.
Tumour-associated overexpression: HPA finds the RNA cancer enhanced in cancer (Lung Adenocarcinoma (TCGA)) and tissue enhanced in normal bone marrow, seminal vesicle, urinary bladder, so the tumour and the normal tissue it comes from share the target and the medicine relies on the difference in level. HPA PTGS2: RNA tissue enhanced (bone marrow 110 nTPM, seminal vesicle 120 nTPM, urinary bladder 151 nTPM); blood lineage lineage enriched (granulocytes 12 nTPM); high antibody staining in 7 normal tissues; highest cancer staining endometrial cancer (4 of 12 high). Distribution: 1 cancer family in the corpus carries a prevalence row, label threshold or catalogue link for it (Colorectal cancer); approvals of single-target medicines aimed at it also list Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, not counted; Open Targets associates it with 1 specific cancer type at or above 0.5 (classic familial adenomatous polyposis). (Rule 7 of scripts/fetch-target-specificity.ts.)
Sources: Human Protein Atlas PTGS2 tissue; Human Protein Atlas PTGS2 pathology; Open Targets ENSG00000073756 associations
First described 1992. Earliest sequence paper UniProt cites for the protein: Hla et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A, 1992, "Human cyclooxygenase-2 cDNA". Source.
An inducible cyclooxygenase converting arachidonic acid to prostaglandin H2; PGE2 acts through EP receptors on tumour and immune cells.
RNA: tissue enhanced (bone marrow 110 nTPM, seminal vesicle 120 nTPM, urinary bladder 151 nTPM), detected in many normal tissues. Blood: lineage enriched (granulocytes 12 nTPM).
RNA cancer enhanced: Lung Adenocarcinoma 35 pTPM.
Medium only: colorectal cancer, glioma, lung cancer, melanoma.
HPA PTGS2 tissue · HPA PTGS2 pathology · HPA protein class: FDA approved drug targets
Human Protein Atlas version 25.1, antibody staining at reliability approved, enhanced or supported; used under CC BY-SA 3.0. Staining counts are patients per level in the atlas cohort, not population prevalence.
| Cancer | Prevalence | Measure | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorectal cancer | about 85% | COX-2 overexpression by mRNA in colorectal carcinomas | doi.org |
Approximate, population-level figures; the measure column says what was counted. Ranges show the midpoint as a bar.
Celecoxib is a common anti-inflammatory painkiller. In oncology it is paired with low-dose oral methotrexate as a cheap 'metronomic' treatment for advanced head and neck cancer, a regimen from Tata Memorial in Mumbai that beat intravenous cisplatin in a randomised trial.
Query for this target: (TITLE:"COX-2" OR ABSTRACT:"COX-2" OR TITLE:"PTGS2" OR ABSTRACT:"PTGS2") AND (cancer OR tumor OR tumour OR oncology OR carcinoma OR lymphoma OR leukemia OR leukaemia OR myeloma OR sarcoma OR melanoma OR glioma). Results are unfiltered search hits about COX-2 (PTGS2), not a curated reading list.
Shares Enabling characteristic: tumour-promoting inflammation, Hallmark: inducing or accessing vasculature.
Shares Enabling characteristic: tumour-promoting inflammation, Hallmark: inducing or accessing vasculature.
Shares Enabling characteristic: tumour-promoting inflammation, Colorectal cancer.
Shares Hallmark: inducing or accessing vasculature, Colorectal cancer.
Shares Hallmark: inducing or accessing vasculature, Colorectal cancer.