Significance of HIF-1α and E-cadherin in cervical carcinoma

Objective To study the significance of the expressions of HIF-1α and E-cadherin in cervical carcinoma. Methods The expressions of HIF-1α and E-cadherin (E-cad) were determined in the clinical specimens of 109 cases of cervical carcinoma, 16 cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasm and 10 cases of normal cervical tissue with immunohistochemical assay. Results There was nearly no expression of HIF-1α in the normal cervical tissue. The positive expression of HIF-1α and E-cad were 81.4% (70/86) and 28.6% (25/86) respectively in the tissue of invasive cervical carcinoma. The rate of positive expression of HIF-1α was significantly higher in invasive cervical carcinoma than in normal cervical tissue and cervical intraepithelial neoplasm (P0.01). The positive rate of E-cad was significantly lower in cervical carcinoma in situ and invasive cervical carcinoma than in normal cervical tissue and in cervical intraepithelial neoplasm (P0.01). There was a significant correlation of the expression rate of HIF-1α and E-cad with the FIGO stages or histological subtypes of cervical carcinoma and a significant negative correlation of the expression of HIF-1α and E-cad. Conclusion HIF-1α is over expressed in cervical carcinoma and may induce the expression of E-cad. Both HIF-1α and E-cad may exert important effects of the invasiveness of the carcinoma. The expression of HIF-1α and E-cad can serve as an indication of the metastasis of cervical carcinoma.