Immunohistochemical expression and prognostic significance of HIF-1α and VEGF-C in neuroendocrine breast cancer.

AIM To determine the predictive value of HIF-1α and VEGF-C in primary neuroendocrine breast cancers (NEBC) and their correlation with other clinico-pathological characteristics of NEBC. MATERIALS AND METHODS HIF-1α and VEGF-C were determined immunohistochemically in tissue samples from 31 cases of NEBC. RESULTS The HIF-1α expression in NEBC was predominantly negative, with only 5 (16.1%) cases showing strong reaction to HIF-1α. Eighteen (58.0%) NEBC cases showed moderate-to-strong VEGF-C expression. VEGF-C expression negatively correlated with progesterone receptor positivity (p=0.014) and duration of follow-up (p=0.021). A multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis showed that HIF-1α (p=0.019) was a significant predictor of disease-free survival, whereas VEGF-C (p=0.099) showed no such association. CONCLUSION HIF-1α overexpression indicated unfavourable prognosis and could serve as an additional prognostic factor in NEBC. Moreover, patients with NEBC exhibiting moderate or strong VEGF-C expression could be candidates for a specific VEGF-C antibody therapy.

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