Clinicopathological significance of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α) expression in gastric cancer.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Hypoxia is a common feature of rapidly growing solid tumors. Therefore, cellular adaptation to hypoxia and altered glucose metabolism are fundamental to the biology of cancer cells. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) is a transcription factor for more than 60 genes recognized to control the delivery of oxygen and nutrients through the induction of angiogenesis and glycolysis under hypoxic conditions. Therefore, inhibition of the expression of HIF-1α can be expected to be potentially tumor-specific molecular target-based therapy. In this study, we evaluated the significance of HIF-1α expression in relationship to clinicopathological factors, prognosis, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression, and microvessel density (MVD).

METHODS:

Paraffin-embedded tumor specimens from 128 patients who underwent gastrectomy at Kurume University from 2004 to 2005 were used to assess the clinical significance of HIF-1α expression. We used the ABC method to perform an immunohistochemical analysis of the HIF-1α and VEGF expression.

RESULTS:

Eighty-four (65.6%) of gastric cancer specimens were positive for HIF-1α expression. Multivariate analysis showed that histology, depth of invasion, VEGF expression, and MVD were significantly associated with HIF-1α expression. On relapse-free and overall survival curves, the HIF-1α-negative group was significantly higher than the HIF-1α-positive group. Moreover, HIF-1α(+)/VEGF(+) patients had the worst prognosis. HIF-1α expression was identified as a significant predictor of relapse-free survival and overall survival by multivariate Cox's proportional hazard analyses.

CONCLUSION:

Overexpression of HIF-1α was found to be an indicator of poor prognosis for patients with gastric cancer and was significantly correlated with histology, depth of invasion, VEGF, and MVD.

• Authors: Taro Isobe, Keishiro Aoyagi, Kikuo Koufuji, Kazuo Shirouzu, Akihiko Kawahara, Akihiro Kawahara, Tomoki Taira, Masayoshi Kage
• Journal: International journal of clinical oncology (Int J Clin Oncol) Vol. 18 Issue 2 Pg. 293-304 (Apr 2013) ISSN: 1437-7772 [Electronic] Japan
• PMID: 22350022 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• HIF1A protein, human
• Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit
• Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A

Topics

• Adult
• Aged
• Aged, 80 and over
• Disease-Free Survival
• Female
• Gastrectomy
• Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
• Humans
• Hypoxia (metabolism, pathology)
• Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit (genetics, metabolism)
• Male
• Microvessels (pathology)
• Middle Aged
• Molecular Targeted Therapy
• Neoplasm Invasiveness
• Prognosis
• Stomach Neoplasms (genetics, pathology, surgery)
• Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (genetics)