Correlation of VEGF and HIF-1α expression with pathological renal artery changes in patients with renal cell carcinoma

The aim of this study was to correlate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and hypoxia-inducible factor- 1α (HIF-1α) with pathological renal artery changes in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Moreover, we correlated intratumoral microvessel density (MVD) with VEGF and HIF-1α expression and prognostic factors for RCC, including tumor necrosis. Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue blocks from 150 patients with RCC and 50 patients with nontumorous kidney diseases were analyzed. The control group consisted of specimens from both renal arteries obtained from 25 decedents at routine autopsy (50 cases in total). Immunohistochemistry was performed using primary antibodies to VEGF, HIF-1α and CD31. Results: Pathological renal artery changes are found more common in patients with RCC and nontumorous kidney diseases when compared to control group. MVD was higher in the RCCs of patients with pathological renal artery changes. Tumors with higher HIF-1α expression had higher MVD. However, the VEGF expression was not associated with MVD. Significant association was also found between MVD and the extent of tumor necrosis--less necrotic tumors had higher MVD. Association between renal artery changes and VEGF and HIF-1α expression was not established. Considering the results of this study the evaluation of renal artery changes in forthcoming research of RCC would be appreciated for several reasons: to estimate their incidence in a larger number of patients, to clarify their connection with RCC and to reveal their relationship with MVD in RCCs.