HIF-1 ALPHA GENE EXPRESSION IS NOT A SUITABLE BIOMARKER FOR EVALUATING MALIGNANCY RISK IN COLORECTAL POLYPS

Objective: Most cases of colorectal cancer originate from adenoma polyps. The identification of the expression pattern of cancer related genes such as Hypoxia-inducible factor - 1 (HIF-1 alpha), can be useful in detection of the malignancy in polyps. The aim of this study is the evaluation of HIF-1alpha mRNA expression and risk of malignancy transitions in colorectal polyps. Patients and Methods: In this study, 54 samples of fresh polyps and 20 samples of normal mucosa were collected as the control group from patients. The demographic and clinical data of the patients were collected. The RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis were performed. HIF-1alpha gene expression was investigated by Real-time PCR method and relative quantification. Fold change of gene expression was evaluated by (2-(Delta)(Delta CT)) method. The statistical analysis was performed by the Prism software (version 5). Results: There was no significant difference in the expression of HIF-1 alpha mRNA between adenoma and hyperplastic polyps compared to the control group (p>0.05), and also we did not found significant difference in the expression of HIF-1 alpha mRNA between polyps group (p>0.05). No significant correlation between clinicopathological features and HIF-1 alpha expression was observed in colorectal polyps (p>0.05). Conclusions: While HIF-1alpha gene has a critical role in angiogenesis and tumor malignancy, but in this study we did not found significant expression of HIF-1alpha mRNA in colorectal polyps. Finally, we conclude that, HIF-1alpha gene is not a suitable prognostic biomarker for indicating malignancy progression to CRC.