COX-2 promotes metastasis and predicts prognosis in gastric cancer via regulating mTOR

Aim: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignant tumors in the world. It is important to find accurate and reliable biomarkers in order to decrease whole morbidity and mortality. Results: We examined the expression of COX-2 and mTOR on GC tissue microarrays by immunohistochemistry. Multi-variate COX regression analysis showed that the expression of COX-2 or mTOR was an independent factor in the prognosis of GC patients. In addition, COX-2 and mTOR had the potentially synergistic effect on predicting the prognosis of GC. Conclusion: The combined expression of COX-2 and mTOR could serve as efficient prognostic indicators and COX-2 could suppress GC metastasis via regulating mTOR.