Marcadores de hipoxia tumoral en osteosarcomas humanos

The aim of this work was to investigate the frequency of HIF-1α and VEGF expression, the neovascularization and cell proliferation in human osteosarcoma. Expression of HIF-1α and VEGF were assessed by immunohistochemistry. Neovascularization was evaluated by immunostaining against factor VIII, and cell proliferation was determined by immunohistochemistry against Ki-67. Statistical association between these parameters and clinical features was examined. HIF-1α staining was positive in 35% of patients, being clinically correlated with metastasis. VEGF expression was detected in 69% of cases, and was significantly associated with gender. VEGF was also associated with histological tumor grade. No association was found between cell proliferation and clinical data. In conclusion, this manuscript shows the first description of HIF-1α expression in osteosarcomas, which was associated with the metastatic disease; it is also shown an association between VEGF protein expression with female gender; and a trend towards an association between VEGF expression and tumor grade.