title: Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha in oral squamous cell carcinoma and its relation to prognosis.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1 alpha) and proliferative activity in tumor cells, lymph node metastasis, as well as prognosis in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Fifty-seven biopsy specimens of OSCC were investigated for the expression of HIF-1 alpha and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) by immunohistochemistry. None of the patients had received any prior treatments. The percentage of HIF-1 alpha immunopositive area (PHIA) was calculated using computer-assisted image analysis for quantitative assessment of HIF-1 alpha expression. The PCNA labeling index (LI) was evaluated as a proliferation marker. We found that the mean PHIA in all stages was 12.1% in the poor prognosis patients, and it was 6.4% in the good prognosis patients. There was a significant difference of PHIA between poor prognosis and good prognosis patients (P=0.0065). Furthermore, the mean PHIA in the patients who had no metastatic lymph nodes was 7.5%, while it was 11.7% in the patients who had metastatic lymph nodes. There was also a significant difference of PHIA between patients who had no metastatic lymph nodes and those who had metastatic lymph nodes (P=0.0487). On the other hand, significant correlation between PHIA and PCNA LI was not observed. These results provide the clinical data indicating that HIF-1 alpha may play an important role in lymph node metastasis and prognosis in patients with OSCC.
authors.affiliation: Division of Regenerative Oral Surgery, Unit of Translational Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, Sakamoto, Nagasaki, Japan. uehara@nagasaki-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Masataka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uehara
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sano
authors.forename: Hisazumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: Mihoko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nonaka
authors.forename: Izumi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Asahina
mesh_terms: D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D051793:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D007564:Japan; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen / Q000096:biosynthesis*
chemical_list: D051793:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen