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University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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Editor’s note: Cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes catalyze the synthesis of prostaglandins from arachidonic acid. COX-2 is induced in response to various inflammatory and mitogenic stimuli and has many protumorigenic downstream effects including enhanced proliferation and angiogenesis, promotion of invasion and metastasis, and resistance to apoptotic death. The overexpression of COX-2 has also been reported in several human cancers and their precancerous lesions; up to 40% of invasive ductal breast carcinomas have been shown to overexpress COX-2. In the current study, the authors examined the expression of COX-2 in atypical hyperplasia. Women who develop atypical hyperplasia are at a high risk of developing breast cancer, with a cumulative incidence of 25% 20 years after biopsy examination.