Cox-2: a new target for cancer prevention and treatment

Numerous investigators have found increased levels of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in both pre-malignant and malignant tissues. Moreover, animals engineered to be COX-2 deficient or treated with a selective COX-2 inhibitor showed reduced tumor formation and growth. The present book reviews these findings suggesting that COX-2 is a valid molecular target for the prevention and treatment of cancer. The first chapters are devoted to the epidemiology of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and cancer, the pharmacology of COX-2 inhibitors and the regulation of COX-2 expression in human cancers. Besides, the book contains a series of chapters examining the link between COX-2 and cancer in specific organs (e.g. skin, breast, cervix, digestive tract, lung, etc.). Furthermore, several clinical trials assessing the potential of COX-2 inhibitors for preventing and treating cancer are described.