Objective To investigate the expressions of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and caudal homeobox gene 2 (CDX2) in colorectal adenocarcinoma, and the relationships between them and the clinicopathologic factor of colorectal adenocarcinoma. Methods The expressions of HIF-1α and CDX2 were detected by immunohistochemistry in 62 specimens of colorectal adenocarcinoma and 20 specimens of normal colorectal mucosa tissue. The correlation between the expressions of HIF-1α and CDX2 was analyzed by Spearman rank correlation analysis. Results The positive rates of HIF-1α expression in normal colorectal mucosa tissue and colorectal adenocarcinoma were 5.0% （1/20） and 62.9% （39/62）, CDX2 were 95.0% （19/20） and 69.4% （43/62）, the differences of positive rate between different tissues were significant （Plt;0.05）. In colorectal adenocarcinoma, the expression of HIF-1α or CDX2 was related to tumor differentiation, lymph node metastasis, and Dukes staging (Plt;0.05). There was a negative correlation between HIF-1α and CDX2 expressions in colorectal adenocarcinoma （r=－0.293 2，Plt;0.05）. Conclusions The up-regulation of HIF-1α and down-regulation of CDX2 may be involved in the genesis of colorectal adenocarcinoma， and there is a negative correlation between the two kinds of protein. HIF-1α may participate in modulation of CDX2 expression and lead to accelerate the progression of colorectal carcinoma.
ObjectiveTo investigate the correlations among the cadual homeobox gene 2 (CDX2), hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) protein expressions, and tumor budding in the colorectal cancer (CRC). MethodsIn this study, 63 CRC specimens surgically removed in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University from January 2012 to September 2015 were collected. The CDX2 and HIF-1α protein expressions were detected by immunohistochemical staining streptavidin-biotin peroxidase two-step method. The staining and the grade of tumor budding were observed under an optical microscope, and the correlation was analyzed using Spearman test. ResultsThe positive expressions of CDX2 and HIF-1α proteins in the CRC tissues were 35 (55.6%) and 47 (74.6%) cases, respectively, which was a negative correlation in the CRC (rs=–0.302, P=0.017). The positive expressions of CDX2 and HIF-1α proteins in the tumor budding of colorectal cancer were 21 (51.2%) and 26 (63.4%) cases, respectively, which was also a negative correlation in the tumor budding of CRC (rs=–0.336, P=0.031), but there was no statistic correlation between the grade of tumor budding and CDX2 or HIF-1α positive protein expression in the CRC (rs=0.113, P=0.370; rs=–0.026, P=0.838). ConclusionsThe positive expression between CDX2 and HIF-1α has a negative correlation in the same CRC specimen and which has a negative correlation in tumor budding. There is no statistic correlation between grade of tumor budding and CDX2 or HIF-1α protein expression in the CRC. Hypoxia environment may be involved in the downregulation of CDX2 level during the malignant progression of CRC.