Expressions of HIF-1α and VEGF in rhabdomyosarcoma and their clinical significance

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Objective: To investigate the expressions of HIF-1α (hypoxia inducible factor-1α) and VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) in rhabdomyosarcoma and their clinical significance. Methods: The expressions of HIF-1α and VEGF preteins in 70 cases of rhabdomyosarcoma were detected by immunohistochemistry, and the correlations of the expressions of HIF-1α and VEGF with the clinicopathological characteristics and the prognosis were analyzed. Results: The positive-expression rates of HIF-1α and VEGF in rhabdomyosarcoma tissues were 75.7% (53/70) and 72.9% (51/70), respectively. HIF-1α expression was positively correlated to VEGF expression (r = 0.554, P = 0.000). HIF-1α expression was significantly associated with the factors of gender (P = 0.035), tumor size (P = 0.016) and clinical staging (P = 0.008), but it was not associated with the age (P = 0.555), pathological type (P = 0.625) and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.750). The three-year overall survival rates of HIF-1α-negative patients and HIF-1α-positive patients were 54.5% and 38.0%, respectively (P = 0.045). VEGF expression was significantly associated with clinical stage (P = 0.026), but it was not associated with the age (P = 0.478), gender (P = 0.944), tumor size (P = 0.535), pathological type (P = 0.399) and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.356). The three-year overall survival rates of VEGF-negative patients and VEGF-positive patients were 68.1% and 31.1% (P = 0.011). COX regression model showed that the factors of VEGF expression (P = 0.005), clinical staging (P = 0.004) and tumor size (P = 0.000) were independent predictors of poor prognosis of rhabdomyosarcoma. HIF-1α could not be considered as an independent prognostic factor of rhabdomyosarcoma (P = 0.845). Conclusion: The overexpression of HIF-1α and VEGF in rhabdomyosarcoma is related to clinical staging. HIF-1α expression is associated with VEGF expression, and VEGF is an independent predictor of poor prognosis of rhabdomyosarcoma. DOI:10.3781/j.issn.1000-7431.2012.08.012