Expression Of VEGF, COX-2 And HIF-1α And Their Significance In Endometrial Carcinoma

Objective:To study the expressions of VEGF,COX-2 and HIF-1αin endometrial carcinoma(EMC)and to evaluate their significance of the clincopathological features of EMC.Materials and Methods:Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues from 46 EMC patients,22 cases with atypical hyperplasia of endometrium and 19 cases with normal human endometrium as control were examined immunohistochemically for the VEGF,COX-2 and HIF-1αproteins.The relationships among the expressions of VEGF,COX-2 and HIF-1α,as well as the relationships among the expressions of them and clinicopathological features were analyzed with semiquantitative and statistical method.Results:1.The positive expression rates of VEGF in EMC,atypical hyperplasia and normal endometrium cases were 97.8%(45/46),95.5%(21/22) and 84.2%(16/19)respectively.The difference between the positive rate of VEGF in EMC and that in normal endometrium cases was statistically significant(x²=4.316,P=0.038);2.The positive expression rates of COX-2 in EMC,atypical hyperplasia and normal endometrium cases were 97.8% (45/46),95.5%(21/22)and 78.9%(15/19)respectively.The difference between the positive rate of COX-2 in EMC and that in normal endometrium cases was statistically significant(x²=6.749,P=0.009);3.The positive expression rates of HIF-1αin EMC,atypical hyperplasia and normal endometrium cases were 97.8%(45/46),90.5%(20/22)and 57.9%(11/19) respectively.The difference between the positive rate of HIF-1αin normal endometrium and that in atypical hyperplasia cases was statistically significant (x²=6.026,P=0.014),and the difference between that in EMC and that in normal endometrium cases was also statistically significant(x²=17.973,P= 0.000);4.In pathological grading,the level of VEGF,COX-2 and HIF-1αin EMC of high grade(G_2,3)tumor tissues were higher than that in low grade(G₁) endometrium(VEGF.x²=10.868,P=0.001;COX-2:x²=8.626,P= 0.003;HIF-1α:x²=10.014,P=0.002);5.In clinical stage,the level of VEGF and HIF-1αin EMC of FIGO stageâ…¡and the tumor tissues above were higher than that in stageâ… endometrium(VEGF:Continuity Correction x²=4.024,P =0.045;HIF-1α:x²=5.347,P=0.021);6.VEGF,COX-2 and HIF-1αwere positively correlated with each other(VEGF and COX-2:r=0.775,P= 0.000;HIF-1αand VEGF:r=0.692,P=0.0001 HIF-1αand COX-2:r= 0.682,P=0.000)Conclusions:1.The expression levels of VEGF,COX-2 and HIF-1αincrease in EMC,and they increase with the increase of tumor grade and FIGO stage,which shows the promotive function of the three factors during the process of endometrial pathological changes.2.COX-2 and HIF-1αmay regulate upon VEGF respectively in endometrium,and both may become the targets in anti-vessel therapy of endometrial neoplasms.