The Relation Between Hypoxia-Inducible Factor(HIF)-1alpha Expression With p53 Expression and Outcome in Surgically Treated Supraglottic Laryngeal Cancer

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine whether a relationship exists between HIF-1 alpha expression and the pro-apoptotic protein p53 in supraglottic laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), which could provide information concerning patient prognosis. Methods: The study population was composed of 106 patients untreated men with SCC of the supraglottic larynx. All the patients underwent surgical resection of the tumor and bilateral neck dissection. Immunohistochemical analysis of HIF-1 alpha and p53 protein expression was performed in relation with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis. Results: HIF-1 alpha nuclear expression was detected in 71% of primary carcinomas and 55% of the paired lymph node metastases. There was a significant positive correlation between HIF-1 alpha and T-classification but no associations were observed with other clinicopathological variables and with prognosis. There was no correlation between the expression of HIF-1 alpha and p53. HIF alpha overexpression in combination with p53 immunostating was not associated with disease recurrence or survival. Conclusion: The data suggest that HIF-1 alpha expression does not have a prognostic value in surgically treated supraglottic laryngeal SCC, and that immunohistochemical determination of p53 does not allow improving the clinical significance of HIF-1 alpha.