Background: The principal objective of this study was to evaluate the prognostic significances of p53, hypoxia inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in colorectal cancer.
Materials and methods: The tumor tissues of 311 patients with colorectal carcinoma that had undergone potentially curative resections were immunohistochemically assessed using monoclonal antibodies against p53, HIF-1α, and VEGF.
Results: Positivity rates of p53, HIF-1α, and VEGF were 42.4%, 63.0%, and 56.6%, respectively. HIF-1α expression in tumor tissues was determined to be correlated significantly with the expression of VEGF (p=0.040), and depth of invasion (p=0.019). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that HIF-1α was independently associated with poor overall survival (p=0.002).
Conclusion: HIF-1α expression is associated with VEGF expression and angiogenesis in colorectal carcinoma. Additionally, the expression of HIF-1α in tumor tissue is associated with angiogenesis and poor overall survival in patients with colorectal cancer.