Colorectal carcinoma is one of the most common malignancies in the world, and its incidence has increased in recent years. We have reported that expression of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α correlates with expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), tumor stage, lymphatic invasion, venous invasion, and liver metastasis. It has also been reported that a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in exon 12 of HIF-1α gene is present in renal cell carcinoma and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients. We investigated the C1772T polymorphism in colorectal cancer patients and healthy control subjects to clarify the mechanism of HIF-1α activation in colorectal carcinoma. The exon 12 genotype was not associated with sex or age. The distribution of HIF-1α genotypes in controls was 89 C/C (89%), 11 C/T (11%), and 0 T/T (0%). The distribution of HIF-1α genotypes in colorectal cancer patients was 100 C/C (100%), 0 C/T (0%), and 0 T/T (0%). The difference in genotype distribution between patients and control subjects was significant (p<0.0005). These results suggest that the C1772T polymorphism in HIF-1α is not involved in progression or metastasis of colorectal carcinoma.

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