ABSTRACT
Collectively, the findings described above provide a compelling rationale in support of the intense investigation in recent years of NSAID and COX-2 inhibitors as chemotherapeutic and chemopreventive agents for human cancers. Indeed, preclinical animal studies, using nonspecific COX inhibitors, as well as specific COX-2 inhibitors, have shown antitumor effects in tumor xenograft, tumor allograft, and carcinogen-induced models of a variety of epithelial cancers, including those of the mammary gland (43-47), prostate (48), colon (49-53), stomach (54), lung (55), bladder (56,57), and skin (58). Clinical trials with NSAID and celecoxib, a selective COX-2 inhibitor, in patients with FAP demonstrated regression of preexisting adenomas (59) and a significant reduction in the number of colorectal polyps (60), respectively. Importantly, these findings have been translated into clinical application with the recent FDA approval of celecoxib for the treatment of FAP.
