Expression and clinical implication of HIF-1alpha and VEGF-C in non-small cell lung cancer

To study the expression and implication of HIF-1alpha and VEGF-C in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its relationship with clinical pathological features of NSCLC, immunohistochemical SP was used to detect the expression of HIF-1alpha and VEGF-C proteins in 48 NSCLC tissues and the same para-cancerous tissues. The positive rates of HIF-1alpha and VEGF-C were 70.8% (34/48) and 68.8% (33/48) respectively. The expression of HIF-1alpha protein was detected in a significantly greater proportion in NSCLC carcinoma tissues than that in para-cancerous tissues (12.5% and 16.7%, P<0.05). The positive rates of HIF-1alpha and VEGF-C were correlated with lymph node metastasis and TNM stage. No relationship was found between the two factors and age, sex, pathological subtypes and histological grades. The positive rates between HIF-1alpha and VEGF-C were correlated (P<0.05). HIF-1alpha and VEGF-C were over-expressed in NSCLC. They may be involved in the carcinogenesis of NSCLC, and play an important role in invasion and metastasis of NSCLC. HIF-1alpha and VEGF-C work synergically in the process of NSCLC.