Ioannis Stasinopoulos1, Tariq Shah1,
Yelena Mironchik1, Balaji Krishnamachary1, Zaver M.
Bhujwalla1,2
1JHU ICMIC Program, Russell
H. Morgan Department of Radiology & Radiological Science, The Johns
Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; 2The
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
Increased phosphocholine and total choline are consistently observed in cancers, especially breast cancer, with 1H MRS, and it is important to uncover the complexity of factors that regulate choline metabolism in cancer, and the compensatory mechanisms in this pathway. Cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, the inducible cyclooxygenase that forms the inflammation-mediator prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), has an enormous impact on cell motility, invasion, vascular characteristics and metastatic dissemination. Here we have shown that COX-2 influences choline metabolism through choline kinase. The association between COX-2 and choline kinase may identify new biomarkers and new targets to use in combination with COX-2 targeting in cancer treatment.