The relation between hypoxia‐inducible factor (HIF)‐1α and HIF‐2α expression with anemia and outcome in surgically treated head and neck cancer

Abstract

HIF-1alpha alone was correlated with DSS and DFS. The additive effect of HIF-2alpha on poor prognosis suggested that different pathways may be regulated by HIF-2alph. Anemia that was not related to HIF-alpha expression suggests that tumor intrinsic factors regulate HIF-alpha therefore, anemia may be a surrogate marker for other factors that affect outcome.