PMID: 11929821Apr 4, 2002Paper

Celecoxib exhibits the greatest potency amongst cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitors for growth inhibition of COX-2-negative hematopoietic and epithelial cell lines

Cancer Research
Chris WaskewichJack D Burton

Abstract

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is an important cellular target for both therapy and/or prevention of inflammatory disorders and cancer. The advent of selective COX-2 inhibitors now allows a more precise and safer treatment approach. The screening of an array of cancer cell lines for growth inhibitory effects of COX-2-selective and -nonselective inhibitors, including celecoxib (Celebrex) and rofecoxib (Vioxx), produced two unanticipated findings. Firstly, the antiproliferative effects of celecoxib were noted to be of very similar magnitude for both hematopoietic and epithelial cancer cell lines. Most hematopoietic cell lines had no detectable COX-2 expression by reverse transcription-PCR, and none expressed COX-2 protein. In addition, COX-2-negative epithelial lines were found to have IC50s for celecoxib that were very similar to their COX-2+ counterparts. Thus, important antiproliferative effects were observed that were independent of both the cell lineage and COX-2 status. Secondly, it was also observed that COX-2 inhibitor drugs, celecoxib and rofecoxib, with similar COX-2-selectivity and clinical efficacy for inflammatory indications, differed significantly in their in vitro antiproliferative effects on cancer cell lines. IC50s of...Continue Reading

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