Comparative Analysis of Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1α and Interleukin-6 Levels in Triple-Negative and Luminal Breast Cancer

Abstract

Introduction: Breast cancer (BC) is a heterogeneous disease classified into distinct biological subtypes. This study aimed to compare the circulating levels of hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) between triple-negative (TNBC) and luminal BC subtypes and to evaluate their correlation with clinicopathological parameters.

Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective study involving 60 patients. Serum concentrations of HIF-1α and IL-6 were measured using a sandwich ELISA technique. Laboratory analyses were performed blinded to the clinical and pathological data. Normality was assessed using the Shapiro–Wilk test. Since serum HIF-1α and IL-6 concentrations followed a non-normal distribution, the Mann–Whitney U test was used for group comparisons. Correlations between biomarkers and ordinal variables, such as the SBR grade, were evaluated using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient.

Results: A significant difference in serum HIF-1α levels was observed between TNBC and luminal BC, with higher concentrations in the TNBC subtype (p = 0.04). Furthermore, a positive correlation was identified between HIF-1α levels and SBR grade within the TNBC group (p = 0.02, Spearman’s rho = 0.57). In contrast, no significant differences in IL-6 levels were found between the two subtypes, nor were there any significant associations with clinicopathological parameters (p > 0.05).

Conclusion: These findings suggest that serum HIF-1α levels are differentially elevated in TNBC and may be associated with its aggressive biological behavior. While these results highlight the potential role of HIF-1α in TNBC, further studies on larger cohorts are necessary to confirm these preliminary findings given the limited sample size of this study.