Correlation of ING4,HIF-1α and VEGF expressions in gastric cancer tissues

OBJECTIVE: To study the expressions of ING4,HIF-1α and VEGF in gastric cancer tissue,and explore their possible mechanisms in initiation and progression of gastric cancer.METHODS: The expressions of ING4,HIF-1α and VEGF were assessed by immunohistochemistry in 66 cases of gastric cancer and 30 samples of normal gastric tissue.The microvascular density(MVD) marked by CD31 was detected.The relationships between their expressions and clinical pathologic features of patients and relationships between the correlation of ING4,HIF-α and VEGF and MVD were analyzed.RESULTS: The positive rate of ING4 was significantly lower than that in normal gastric tissue(P=0.01),but they were higher in HIF-1α and VEGF than that of normal gastric tissue(P0.001).The ING4 expression correlated with patient's gender(P=0.018) and depth of tumour penetration(P=0.018);The positive expression rates of HIF-1α and VEGF were significantly associated with invasive depth,lymphatic metastasis and TNM stage(P0.05).The expression of ING4 had negative correlation with HIF-1α(r=-0.31,P=0.011),VEGF(r=-0.26,P=0.032) and MVD(r=-0.29,P=0.018) in gastric cancer tissue,There were positive correlations between expression of HIF-1α and VEGF(r=0.69,P0.01),HIF-1α and MVD(r=0.75,P0.01),as well as VEGF and MVD(r=0.79,P0.01).CONCLUSIONS: There are distinct expressions of ING4,HIF-1α and VEGF in gastric cancer and normal gastric tissue.They correlate with tumor angiogenesis,clinical pathologic features of patients and each other.Interactions of ING4,HIF-1α and VEGF may co-regulate the initiation and progression of gastric cancer.The joint detection may serve as a judge of metastitatic potential and prognostic indicator for gastric cancer.