The effect of rh-endostatin in combination with radiotherapy on the HIF-1α and VEGF expression in mice with lung cancer

Objective To study the effect of rh-endostatin on the hypoxia-inducible factor 1α （HIF-1α） and vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF） expression in mice with lung cancer treated with radiotherapy. Methods Sixty rats were randomly divided into five groups： control group, the large dose single-γ-ray irradiation group, the small dose fraction irradiation group, the large dose irradiation ＋ YH-16 group and the low dose irradiation ＋ YH-16 group. Inhibition rate and the tumor growth curve were observed. Immunohistochemisty was adopted to detect the expression of HIF-1α and VEGF. The correlation between the expression of HIF-1α, VEGF and inhibilion rate was analyzed. Results The expression of HIF-1α or VEGF and inhibition was correlated negatively （r=-7.823,-8.314, respectively ,P〈0.05）. There was no significant correlation between the expression of HIF-1α and VEGF. Conclusion Adminis-tration of YH-16 before radiotherapy can inhibit the HIF-1α and VEGF expression in mice with lung canc-er, and effectively increase the radiosensitivity of lung cancer,. Key words: Pulmonary carcinoma; HIF-1α; VEGF; Radiotherapy; Endostatin