[Expression of VHL and HIF-1alpha and its clinical significance in the lung cancer tissue].

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the expression of von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) protein and hypoxia inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) in the lung cancer tissue and to detect their clinical significance.

METHODS

EnVisionTM immunohistochemistry was used for detecting the expression of VHL and HIF-1alpha in routinely paraffin-embedded sections from the specimens of lung cancer (n=80) and normal lung tissues (n=20). We also analyzed the relation between the expression of VHL and HIF-1alpha and the clinical stage,differentiation,and with or without lymphatic metastasis.

RESULTS

The positive rate of VHL was significantly lower in lung cancer (56.3%) than that in normal lung tissues (90.0%)(P<0.01).The positive rate of HIF-1alpha was significantly higher in lung cancer (65.0%) than that in normal lung tissues (20.0%)(P<0.01). The positive rate of VHL was significantly higher in the middle and high-differentiated, StageIII, and no-metastasis of lymph node lung cancer tissues than that in the poorly-differentiated, Stage IIIIV, metastasis of lymph node lung cancer tissues (P<0.01~0.05) .But the expression of HIF-1alpha in the lung cancer tissues was just the opposite as compared with that of VHL (P<0.05) .VHL and HIF-1alpha expression levels showed highly negative correlation (P<0.01).

CONCLUSION

The expression of VHL and HIF-1alpha may be important biological markers for carcinogenesis, progression, clinical biological behaviors, and prognosis of lung cancer.