Relationship between the prognosis and expressions of HIF-1α,VEGF and EGFR in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Objective To investigate the relationship of the prognosis and expressions of HIF-1α, VEGF, and EGFR proteins in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Methods From January, 2011 to May, 2014, 73 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were retrospective analyzed for whom they were treated in the Tumor Hospital of General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University. Among them, 36 patients were only underwent radiation therapy, 21 for both surgery and radiation therapy, and the rest for recurrence after local resection of tumor and recurrence after local radiotherapy. 3D-CRT was adopted in 30 patients, while IMRT was used in 43 patients. The median radiation dose was 58 Gy. Using S-P immunohistochemistry tested the expressions of HIF-1α, VEGF, and EGFR proteins of esophageal squamous carcinoma in all the patients. Meanwhile, 14 operation samples were collected randomly in the 37 operated patients for getting the normal esophageal tissues in the incisal edges as the control group. SPSS17.0 statistical software was applied to chi-square test, to calculate the survival rate by Kaplan-Meier method, Log-rank test, and prognosis analysis of multiple factors by Cox. Results The positive rates of the expressions of HIF-1α,VEGF, and EGFR were 70.0%, 84.9%, and 80.8% respectively, while those in the adjacent normal tissues were 14.3%, 14.3%, and 28.6% individually (P < 0.05). The overall survival (OS) was 80.7%, 36.1%, and 22.2% in the first year, the second year, and the third year, the progression free survival (PFS) was 37.0%, 21.5%, and 19.7% respectively in the first year, the second year, and the third year. The median OS was 21 months (95% CI: 17.1-24.9 months), while the median PFS was 9 months (95% CI: 6.1-11.9 months). The prognosis analysis of multiple factors demonstrated that VEGF expression held the leading role in PFS (P = 0.038). Conclusions The positive expressions of HIF-1α, VEGF, and EGFR in esophageal carcinoma increased. Among them, VEGF expression is the key factor to influence survival. Key words: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; HIF-1α; VEGF; EGFR; Prognosis