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Polymorphisms in the Hypoxia Inducible Factor 1-α and the Impact on the Prognosis of Early Stages of Oral Cancer

  • Translational Research and Biomarkers
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Abstract

Background

Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) is the key regulator of cellular responses to hypoxia and presumably plays a central role in the control of tumor growth. Polymorphisms or mutations increasing its activity and stability in vitro under normoxia have recently been identified. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of C1772T and G1790A single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), located within the exon 12 of HIF-1α on the prognosis of early stages of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

Methods

The frequency of C1772T and G1790A polymorphisms was determined by PCR-RFLP in 139 DNA samples from healthy volunteers and 74 patients with surgically treated T1/2 N0 OSCC. The impact of HIF-1α SNPs on tumor size, invasive depth, pathological features, and histological grade was studied. Correlations between genotype and relapse and/or disease-specific survival were evaluated by Kaplan-Meier analysis and log-rank test.

Results

Concerning G1790A SNP, the frequencies of GA heterozygous and AA variant homozygous genotypes were significantly higher in patients than in healthy volunteers (32.8% vs. 6.5% and 4.7% vs. none, respectively) (P < .0001). Also, the presence of the variant allele A was associated to disease-relapse (P = .02) and shorter disease-free survival (P = .04). The genotype distribution of C1772T did not diverge between patients and healthy subjects, and no differences were observed with respect to disease-free or overall survival.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that G1790A polymorphism in the HIF-1α gene might confer susceptibility to OSCC and could be a marker of disfavorable prognosis at early stages.

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Acknowledgment

This study was supported by a grant of the Program COLOMICS (S-GEN-0266-2006) of R&D Activities among Biosciences Research Groups from the Autonomous Community of Madrid (Foundation for Biomedical Research. Hospital Universitario de la Princesa).

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Correspondence to Mario Fernando Muñoz-Guerra MD, PhD.

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Muñoz-Guerra, M.F., Fernández-Contreras, M.E., Moreno, A.L.C. et al. Polymorphisms in the Hypoxia Inducible Factor 1-α and the Impact on the Prognosis of Early Stages of Oral Cancer. Ann Surg Oncol 16, 2351–2358 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-009-0503-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-009-0503-8

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