Objective To investigate the relationship of expression of both HIF-1α and CD44 with clinicopathological features and outcomes in gastric cancer patients. Methods Tissue from 184 gastric cancer cases who underwent R0 resection were analyzed by immunohistochemistry to examine the expression of HIF-1α and CD44. Potential relationships of expression of HIF-1α and CD44 with clinicopathological features and prognosis were investigated. Results HIF-1α was expressed in 102/184(55.4%)of gastric cancer patients,and CD44 was expressed in 116/184(62.4%). HIF-1α and CD44 expression correlated with tumor invasion depth and lymphatic metastasis(P<0.05),and CD44 expression also correlated with tumor size(P<0.05). Spearman rank correlation analysis indicated that HIF-1α expression positively correlated with CD44 expression(r=0.71,P=0.003). Cox multivariate regression analysis indicated that tumor invasion depth, lymphatic metastasis, HIF-1α and CD44 expression were independent prognostic factors in gastric cancer patients(P<0.05).Conclusions HIF-1α expression positively correlated with CD44 expression in gastric cancer patients,and expression of both proteins was related to poor prognosis.

Gastrointestinal neoplasms, HIF-1α, CD44, Prognosis