[Background]: HIF-1alpha plays a key role in the development and progression of cancer. Its polymorphic variants C1772T and G1790A have been associated with greater susceptibility to cancer and increased tumor progression. [Methods]: We determined the distribution of these polymorphisms among 121 patients with glottic cancer and 154 healthy volunteers by PCR-RFLP. We also analyzed the relationship between the presence of these polymorphisms and various clinicopathologic variables. [Results]: Advanced tumors (T3-T4) were associated with the TT variant (p = 0.036), which was present in 75 % of T4 tumors (p = 0.008). Among patients with nodal metastasis (N+), 41.7 and 22 % were carrying the TT and GA variants, respectively, compared with 9.4 and 2 % of the patients with no metastasis (N0), (p = 0.006 and p = 0.032). [Conclusions]: The presence of the TT and GA variants were associated with lymph node metastasis, while the presence of the TT variant can be associated with larger tumor size.

This work was supported by the Foundation for Biomedical Research, Hospital Universitario de La Princesa.

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