XU Chang,SONG Huayu,ZUO Zhigui, et al. Relationship between the sensitivity of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and the expression of HIF-1α and COX-2 in rectal cancer[J]. JOURNAL OF WEZHOU MEDICAL UNIVERSITY, 2014, 44(5): 348-.
Abstract：Objective: To investigate the relationship between the sensitivity of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and the expression of HIF-1alpha and its downstream gene COX-2 in rectal cancer. Methods: Between April 2008 and March 2013, 45 patients with histologically proven rectal cancer who underwent neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery were investigated. Immunohistochemical assay was performed in pre-chemoradiotherapy specimens to determine the expression of HIF-1alpha and COX-2 protein. All cases were evaluated with modified Rectal Cancer Regression Grade (mRCRG) and T- level downstaging following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Results: The percent of achieving mRCRG I was higher in group of low HIF-1alpha expression than that of high HIF-1alpha expression after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (50.0% vs 16.0%, P<0.05). The percentage of achieving T-level downstaging was also the same (70.0% vs 32.0%, P<0.05). The expression of COX-2 did not correlate with mRCRG and T-level downstaging in these patients (both P>0.05). There was low positive correlation between the expression of HIF-1alpha and COX-2 in biopsy specimens of rectal cancer (r= 0.36, P<0.05). Conclusion: The expression of HIF-1alpha is associated with efficiency of neoadjuvant chemoradiation of rectal cancer. Therefore, it can be used as the sensitive predictor of neoadjuvant chemoradiation of rectal cancer.
