Table 4. HIF-1α and VEGF association with Axl, ALDH1, and c-KIT markers of tumor angiogenesis.
| Variable | HIF-1α Weak (SI = 0–2) n = 54 | HIF-1α Strong (SI = 3–9) n = 128 | P-value | VEGF Weak (SI = 0–2) n = 55 | VEGF Strong (SI = 3–9) n = 130 | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Axl expressiona | 0.002b | 0.001 | ||||
| Weak, SI = 0–2 | 20 (49) | 21 (51) | 20 (49) | 21 (51) | ||
| Strong, SI = 3–9 | 30 (24) | 96 (76) | 27 (21) | 100 (79) | ||
| VEGF expression | ||||||
| Weak, SI = 0–2 | 29 (55) | 24 (45) | <0.0005b | |||
| Strong, SI = 3–9 | 24 (19) | 103 (81) | ||||
| ALDH1 expression | NS | NS | ||||
| Negative, SI = 0–2 | 31 (33) | 62 (67) | 32 (34) | 63 (66) | ||
| Positive, SI = 3–9 | 21 (24) | 65 (76) | 21 (24) | 67 (76) | ||
| c-KIT expression | NS | NS | ||||
| Negative (<10%) | 52 (30) | 121 (70) | 53 (30) | 122 (70) | ||
| Positive (≥10%) | 1 (13) | 7 (87) | 0 (0) | 8 (100) | ||
| MVD/mm2 | ||||||
| Median | 42.9 | 56.9 | 0.019c | 44.0 | 57.0 | 0.007c |
| pMVD/mm2 | ||||||
| Median | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.027c | 0.2 | 0.9 | 0.004c |
| VPI (%) | ||||||
| Median | 0.9 | 1.6 | NSc | 0.6 | 1.5 | 0.019c |
SI, staining index; VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor; MVD, microvessel density; pMVD, proliferating microvessel density; VPI, vascular proliferation index.
ashows association within the smaller cohort
bP value was calculated using Pearson’s χ2 test.
cP value was calculated using Mann-Whitney U test.