Relation of Erythropoietin and Erythropoietin Receptor Expression to Hypoxia and Anemia in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

In vivo, the HIF pathway regulates erythropoietin at the mRNA level but not erythropoietin receptor expression in HNSCC. Anemia does not seem to influence the hypoxic microenvironment of tumors sufficiently to alter the expression of erythropoietin. The effects of exogenous erythropoietin may be acting via receptors expressed on tumor cells in vivo, or on vascular cells, which also express the pathway.