An investigation on the correlation of HIF-1α expression with the grading and recurrence of bladder cancer

Objective:To investigate the relationships among the expression of hypoxia inducible factor 1α (HIF 1α) and the microvessel count(MVC), grading and recurrence rate of bladder cancer.Method:The immunohistochemicl stain method was used to detect HIF 1α and microvessel and the positive marks of HIF 1α expression and MVC were counted with double-blind method. The relationships among the expression of HIF 1α and MVC, grading and recurrence rate were analysed retrospectively.Result:The observation was carried out on mucosa specimens of 19 normal bladders, of which 21cases belonged to grade I, 27 belonged to grade II and 22 belonged to grade III. No HIF 1α expression or microvessel was observed in 19 normal specimens. The expression rates of HIF 1α were 29%, 41% and 64% and MVC were ( 39.71 ± 11.62 ),( 44.70 ± 11.52 )and ( 52.36 ± 16.83 ) in bladder cancers of grade I, II, III respectively. There were no significant differences in HIF 1α expression rates between grade I and grade II and between grade II and grade III. However the marked difference was seen between grade I and grade III (p 0.05 ). The same statistic relationship was shown in MVC with cancer grade. Based on that the cancer was primary or recurrence, the patients were divided into primary (51 cases) and recurrent (19 cases) groups. The HIF 1α expression rates and MVC were 35%,74% and ( 42.68 ± 13.73 ),( 53.47 ± 12.50 ) in primary group and recurrence group respectively. Both HIF 1α expression rate and MVC were significantly higher in recurrent group than in primary group. And the HIF 1α expression rate and MVC were both significantly related with recurrence rate, whatever which grade it belonged to.Conclusion:HIF 1α plays an important role in progress of bladder cancer. It can be used as a biological mark of bladder cancer.