Overexpression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1alpha is a marker for an unfavorable prognosis in early-stage invasive cervical cancer.

Hypoxia-inducible factor 1alpha (HIF-1alpha) is a transcriptional factor that regulates genes involved in response to hypoxia and promotes neoangiogenesis, which are considered essential for tumor growth and progression. Using immunohistochemistry, we investigated the influence of HIF-1alpha expression on prognosis in 91 patients with cervical cancer stage pT1b. In univariate and multivariate analysis, patients with strong expression of HIF-1alpha had a significantly shorter overall survival time (P = 0.0307, log-rank test) and disease-free survival time (P < 0.0001, log-rank test) compared with those with moderate to absent HIF-1alpha expression. HIF-1alpha expression is a strong independent prognostic marker in early stage cervical cancer.