Expression of cyclooxygenase-2 in the recurrence of endometriosis after conservative surgery

Objective To study the significance of cyclooxygenase-2 in the recurrence of endometriosis after conservative surgery.Methods Fifty-one patients with endometriosis received conservative surgery were divided into two groups : twenty-five cases of the recurrent group and twenty-six cases of the unrecurrent group according to the diagnostic criteria of relapse.The control group is of ten simple cysts of ovary.The expression of COX-2 in tissue was analysed all by immunohistochemistry methods.Results The positive expression of COX-2 was 74.50% in the study group and 30.00% in the control group.The expression of COX-2 in the study group was significantly higher than that in the control group(P0.05).The positive expression of COX-2 was 60.00% in recurrent group and 88.46% in the unrecurrent group.The expression of COX-2 in the unrecurrent group was significantly higher than that in the recurrent group(P0.05).Conclusions COX-2 may be involved in the pathogenesis and progress and relapse of endometriosis.It's important to monitor the expression of COX-2 in EMs after operation.