['Expression of integrin α3β1 is associated with tumor progression, metastasis, and poor prognosis in several cancers, including breast cancer. Moreover, preclinical studies have revealed important pro-tumorigenic and pro-metastatic functions for this integrin, including tumor growth, survival, invasion, and paracrine induction of angiogenesis. Our previously published work in a preclinical breast cancer model showed that integrin α3β1 promotes expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2/PTGS2), a known driver of breast cancer progression. However, the clinical significance of this regulation was unknown. The objective of the current study was to assess the clinical relevance of the relationship between integrin α3β1 and COX2 by testing for their correlated expression among various forms of human breast cancer.', "Immunohistochemistry was performed to assess co-expression of α3 and COX2 in specimens of human invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), either on a commercial tissue microarray (n = 59 samples) or obtained from Albany Medical Center archives (n = 68 samples). Immunostaining intensity for the integrin α3 subunit or COX2 was scored, and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient analysis was performed to assess their co-expression across and within different tumor subtypes or clinicopathologic criteria.", 'Although expression of integrin α3 or COX2 varied among clinical IDC samples, a statistically significant, positive correlation was detected between α3 and COX2 in both tissue microarrays (r(s) = 0.49, p < 0.001, n = 59) and archived samples (r(s) = 0.59, p < 0.0001, n = 68). In both sample sets, this correlation was independent of hormone receptor status, histological grade, or disease stage.'] Are expression of integrin α3β1 and cyclooxygenase-2 ( COX2 ) positively correlated in human breast cancer?