Clinical significance of xpression of HIF-1α and EMT related actors in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

AIM: To investigate the expression of hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and epithelialmesenchvmal transition (EMT)-related factors in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and to analyze their clinical significance. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry was used to examine the expression of HIF-1α, Snail, Slug, E-cadherin and N-cadherin in 92 cases of PDAC and 10 cases of normal pancreatic tissue. RESULTS: The positive expression rates of HIF- 1α, Snail, Slug, E-cadherin and N-cadherin were 69.57%, 69.57%, 58.70%, 36.96% and 73.91% in PDAC, and 10%, 0%, 0%, 90% and 0% in normal pancreas tissue. HIF-1α expression was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis. Snail expression was correlated with TNM stage. Slug expression was positively associated with TNM stage and lymph node metastasis. N-cadherin expression was significantly related to TNM stage, lymph node metastasis and histological grade. HIF-1α expression in PDAC was positively correlated with Snail and Slug expression. There was a negative correlation between Snail and E-cadherin expression in PDAC. Expression of E-cadherin was negatively related to that of N-cadherin. Multivariate Cox analysis demonstrated that HIF-1α, Snail and E-cadherin were independent factors for prognosis of PDAC. CONCLUSION: HIF-1α, Snail, Slug, E-cadherin and N-cadherin play significant roles in the progression and prognosis of PDAC.