Hypoxia is prognostically important in colorectal cancer (CRC) therapy. Partial oxygen pressure (pO(2)) is an important parameter of hypoxia. The correlation between pO(2) levels and expression levels of prognostic biomarkers was measured in CRC tissues. Human CRC tissues were collected and pO(2) levels were measured by OxyLite. Three methods for tissue fixation were compared, including formalin, Finefix, and Finefix-plus-microwave. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining was conducted by using the avidin-biotin complex technique for detecting the antibodies to hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) alpha, cytokeratin 20 (CK20), and cell proliferation factor Ki67. The levels of pO(2) were negatively associated with the size of CRC tissues. Finefix-plus-microwave fixation has the potential to replace formalin. Additionally, microwave treatment improved Finefix performance in tissue fixation and protein preservation. The percentage of positive cells and gray values of HIF-1 alpha, CK20, and Ki67 were associated with CRC development (P < 0.05). The levels of pO(2) were positively related with the gray values of Ki67 and negatively related with the values of HIF-1 alpha and CK20 (P < 0.05). Thus, the levels of microenvironmental pO(2) affect the expression of predictive biomarkers HIF-1 alpha, CK20, and Ki67 in the development of CRC tissues.
[1]Jilin Univ, China Japan Union Hosp, Dept Pathol, Changchun 130031, Peoples R China.
[2]Hosp Off, Peoples Liberat Army 93246, Changchun 130051, Peoples R China.
[3]Jilin Univ, Affiliated Hosp 2, Dept Gynecol & Obstet, Changchun 130041, Peoples R China.
[4]Jilin Prov Yitong Secondary Hlth Vocat Sch, Siping 130000, Peoples R China.
[5]Jilin Univ, Sch Publ Hlth, Radiat Dept, Changchun 130031, Jilin, Peoples R China.
[6]Jilin Univ, Affiliated Hosp 2, Dept Hepatobiliary Pancreat Surg, Changchun 130041, Peoples R China.
(8.0+极速模式)