VEGF and HIF-1alpha Expression Are Increased in Advanced Stages of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

Objective: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent angiogenic factor that is elevated in epithelial ovarian cancer. Hypoxia inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) is a transcription factor that plays a regulatory role in the expression of VEGF. Currently, there is limited information regarding VEGF and HIF-1alpha expression in epithelial ovarian cancer specimens. The objective of this study was to measure VEGF and HIF-1alpha expression in epithelial ovarian cancer samples and to compare VEGF and HIF-1alpha expression between ovarian cancer and normal ovarian tissue

Methods: . Serial sections of paraffin-embedded ovarian tissues from a study group of 16 control patients and 37 patients diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer were analyzed for expression of VEGF and HIF-1alpha using immunohistochemistry.

Results: There was a strong correlation between the average expression scores of VEGF and HIF-1alpha expression (r(2) = 0.991). There was a significant increase in expression of VEGF in stage III and IV tumors over that in controls (P < 0.005). There was also a significant increase in HIF-1alpha expression in stage III and IV tumors over that in controls (P < 0.005 and P < 0.05, respectively).

Conclusion: VEGF and HIF-1alpha are both expressed in epithelial ovarian cancer. VEGF expression correlated with HIF-1alpha expression, suggesting that HIF-1alpha may contribute to the overexpression of VEGF observed in epithelial ovarian cancer.