Expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α and vascular endothelial growth factor in hepatocellular carcinoma: Impact on neovascularization and survival

AIM: To study the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1alpha (HIF-1alpha) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the impact on neovascularization and survival. METHODS: Expressions of HIF-1alpha, VEGF and microvessel density (MVD) are studied through immunohistochemistry in 36 cases of HCC and the corresponding paraneoplastic tissue and 6 cases of normal liver tissue. The relationship of the expressions of HIF-1alpha and VEGF with the clinicopathological data and survival are analyzed. RESULTS: The positive rate of VEGF in HCC was 32/36, which is significantly higher than that in paraneoplastic tissue and normal liver tissue (P<0.05). The expression of HIF-1alpha in HCC tissue is 24/36, also higher than that in paraneoplastic tissue and normal liver tissue (P<0.05). The expression of VEGF and HIF-1alpha in HCC with microscopic venous invasion is significantly higher than that in HCC without microscopic venous invasion (P<0.05). Spearman correlation analysis does not only show the expression of HIF-1alpha as correlated with the expression of VEGF (r(s) = 0.459, P<0.01), but it also shows the expression of HIF-1alpha and VEGF as correlated with MVD (r(s) = 0.412 and 0.336, respectively, P<0.05). The differences of the survival rates among VEGF positive group and VEGF negative group are significant (P<0.05), whereas the differences of the survival rates among the HIF-1alpha negative group and positive group are not significant (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: HIF-1alpha plays important roles in neovascularization in HCC possibly through regulation of VEGF transcription.