title: No relationship between thymidine phosphorylase (TP, PD-ECGF) expression and hypoxia in carcinoma of the cervix.
abstract: The expression of hypoxia-regulated genes promotes an aggressive tumour phenotype and is associated with an adverse cancer treatment outcome. Thymidine phosphorylase (TP) levels increase under hypoxia, but the protein has not been studied in association with hypoxia in human tumours. An investigation was made, therefore, of the relationship of tumour TP with hypoxia, the expression of other hypoxia-associated markers and clinical outcome. This retrospective study was carried out in patients with locally advanced cervical carcinoma who underwent radiotherapy. Protein expression was evaluated with immunohistochemistry. Hypoxia was measured using microelectrodes and the level of pimonidazole binding. There was no relationship of TP expression with tumour pO(2) (r=-0.091, P=0.59, n=87) or pimonidazole binding (r=0.13, P=0.45, n=38). There was no relationship between TP and HIF-1alpha, but there was a weak borderline significant relationship with HIF-2alpha expression. There were weak but significant correlations of TP with the expression of VEGF, CA IX and Glut-1. In 119 patients, the presence of TP expression predicted for disease-specific (P=0.032) and metastasis-free (P=0.050) survival. The results suggest that TP is not a surrogate marker of hypoxia, but is linked to the expression of hypoxia-associated genes and has weak prognostic power.
authors.affiliation: Academic Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Manchester, Christie Hospital NHS Trust, Manchester M20 4BX, UK.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kabuubi
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Loncaster
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Davidson
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kobylecki
authors.forename: I J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Stratford
authors.forename: C M L
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: West
mesh_terms: D002277:Carcinoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy; D015687:Cell Hypoxia; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000235:genetics; D011379:Prognosis; D011836:Radiation Tolerance; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013939:Thymidine Phosphorylase / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D013939:Thymidine Phosphorylase