[Expression and clinical significance of hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha in gastric cancer].
OBJECTIVE
Hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) is correlated to the genesis, progression, invasion, metastasis, and prognosis of some malignancies. This study was to evaluate the expression of HIF-1alpha in gastric cancer, and explore its correlation to clinical features of gastric cancer.


METHODS
The expression of HIF-1alpha in 96 specimens of gastric cancer was detected by SP immunohistochemistry. The correlations of HIF-1alpha to clinicopathologic features and prognosis of gastric cancer were analyzed with SPSS10.0 software.


RESULTS
Of the 96 specimens, 77 (80.2%) were HIF-1alpha-positive: 7 were grade (+), 29 were grade (++), 27 were grade (+++), and 14 were grade (++++). The positive rate of HIF-1alpha was significantly lower in stage I-II patients than in stage III-IV patients (66.7% vs. 87.3%, P=0.016), significantly lower in stage T1-T2 patients than in stage T3-T4 patients (57.9% vs. 88.0%, P=0.007), and slightly lower in the patients without distant metastasis than in the patients with distant metastasis (75.9% vs. 100%, P=0.055). The 5-year overall survival rate was significantly lower in HIF-1alpha-positive patients than in HIF-1alpha-negative patients (31.2% vs. 57.9%, P=0.027). However, HIF-1alpha was not an independent prognostic factor of gastric cancer in multivariate analysis.


CONCLUSIONS
The expression of HIF-1alpha is correlated to patients' survival, tumor stage, invasion depth, and distant metastasis of gastric cancer, and may be considered as a reference criterion in evaluating the progression, metastasis, and prognosis of gastric cancer.
Han
Bing
B
State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen university, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510060, P. R. China.
Xu
Rui-Hua
RH
Shi
Yan-Xia
YX
Li
Yu-Hong
YH
Luo
Hui-Yan
HY
Wang
Feng
F
Hou
Jing-Hui
JH
Cai
Mu-Yan
MY
Jiang
Wen-Qi
WQ
D000008:Abdominal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000556:secondary; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D051795:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit / Q000378:metabolism*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000556:secondary; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010386:Pelvic Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000556:secondary; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D015996:Survival Rate
C497442:HIF1A protein, human; D051795:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit