Usefulness of selective COX-2 inhibitors as therapeutic agents against canine mammary tumors.

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is a key enzyme for converting arachidonic acids to prostanoids, which are known to be induced during inflammation and cancer initiation. Previously, it has been reported that COX inhibitors, such as aspirin, reduce the incidence of human colorectal cancer; therefore, it is widely believed that COX-2 is a potential therapeutic and chemoprevention target for several types of human cancer. However, whether selective COX-2 inhibitors have antitumor effects against canine mammary tumor cells remains unclear. In the present study, to elucidate the antitumor effect of selective COX-2 inhibitors against canine mammary tumors, we investigated the antitumor effects of meloxicam, etodolac and celecoxib using COX-2-expressing canine mammary tumor (CF33) cells. We analyzed the effects of selective COX-2 inhibitors on COX-2 protein expression levels in CF33 cells. Celecoxib (100 µM) was found to induce downregulation of COX-2 protein expression. We examined the effect of selective COX-2 inhibitors on CF33 cell proliferation. All the selective COX-2 inhibitors suppressed CF33 cell growth. Specifically, etodolac and celecoxib inhibited cell proliferation via a decrease in S-phase cells and an increase in G0/G1 arrest. We examined the apoptotic effect of selective COX-2 inhibitors on CF33 cells. Our data suggested that etodolac and celecoxib induced apoptosis in CF33 cells. In particular, celecoxib led to apoptosis mediated by the activation of the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway, including the upregulation of BAX expression, downregulation of Bcl-2 expression and activation of caspase-3/7. Furthermore, celecoxib increased the percentages of cells in both early apoptosis and late apoptosis. Our results revealed that celecoxib induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in CF33 cells. The data suggested that celecoxib is the most viable candidate as a therapeutic agent for the treatment of canine mammary tumors. Furthermore, our findings provide the first indication that COX-2 inhibition can provide a new therapeutic strategy for treating canine mammary tumors.