Overexpression of hypoxia-inducible-factor 1α(HIF-1α) in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma correlates with lymph node metastasis and pathologic stage
2003

HIF-1α and Oesophageal Cancer

Sample size: 130 publication Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Kurokawa T, Miyamoto M, Kato K, Cho Y, Kawarada Y, Hida Y, Shinohara T, Itoh T, Okushiba S, Kondo S, Katoh H

Primary Institution: Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine

Hypothesis

Does the expression of HIF-1α correlate with lymph node metastasis and pathologic stage in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma?

Conclusion

High HIF-1α expression is associated with worse survival and correlates with several adverse clinical factors in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Supporting Evidence

  • High HIF-1α expression was found in 30.8% of the tumours studied.
  • HIF-1α expression correlated with depth of tumour invasion and lymph node metastasis.
  • Patients with high HIF-1α expression had a significantly worse survival rate.
  • High HIF-1α expression was associated with advanced pTNM stage.
  • Statistical analysis showed significant correlations with several clinical factors.

Takeaway

This study found that a protein called HIF-1α is linked to more serious cases of oesophageal cancer, which means it could help doctors understand how bad the cancer is.

Methodology

The study analyzed 130 surgical specimens of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma for HIF-1α immunoreactivity using immunohistochemistry.

Potential Biases

Potential bias from the retrospective nature of the study and the subjective evaluation of immunohistochemical staining.

Limitations

The study is limited by its retrospective design and the exclusion of patients who died in-hospital.

Participant Demographics

113 male and 17 female patients, median age 63 years.

Statistical Information

P-Value

P=0.0007

Statistical Significance

p<0.05

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1038/sj.bjc.6601186

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