Hypoxia-associated markers in gastric carcinogenesis and HIF-2α in gastric and gastro-oesophageal cancer prognosis

The study investigated hypoxia-associated markers (HIF-2 alpha, Epo, Epo-R, Glut-1 and VEGF) along with Ki-67 in a gastric carcinogenesis model, and the prognostic significance of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-2 alpha in surgically treated gastro-oesophageal cancer. Protein expression was examined using immunohistochemistry on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded biopsies of normal mucosa (n = 20), Helicobacter pylori-associated gastritis (n = 24), intestinal metaplasia (n = 24), dysplasia (n 12) and intestinal (n 19) and diffuse (n = 21) adenocarcinoma. Relationships between HIF-2 alpha expression and prognosis were assessed in resection specimens from 177 patients with gastric and gastro-oesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. Expression of all markers increased with progression along the gastric carcinogenesis sequence (P = 0.0001). Hypoxia-inducible factor-2 alpha was expressed in 63% of 177 resection specimens and at a high level in 44%. The median overall survival in patients with HIF-2 alpha-expressing tumours was 22 (95% CI 18-26) months, whereas those with HIF-2 alpha-negative tumours had a median survival of 37 (95% CI 29-44) months (P = 0.015). Hypoxia-inducible factor-2a had no independent prognostic significance in multivariate analysis. In view of the lack of independent prognostic significance, HIF-2 alpha has no role as a routine prognostic indicator. However, the high expression of HIF-2 alpha suggests that it may be of value as a potential therapeutic target.