Cancer Res Treat.  2007 Sep;39(3):109-115.

Glucose Transporter-1 Expression in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Tongue

• Choi YS
• Kim SJ
• Kim DS
• Park SJ
• Park Y
• Shin HJ
• Jung KY
• Baek SK
• Shin BK
• Choi JW
• Kim BS
• Shin SW
• Kim YH
• Kim JS

Abstract

PURPOSE: Tumor cells are known to express hypoxia-related proteins such as glucose transporter-1 (Glut-1). These hypoxia-induced changes may allow tumor cells to survive under sustained hypoxic microenvironments, and the surviving tumor cell under hypoxia may develop a more aggressive phenotype and so result in a poor prognosis.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The Glut-1 expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry, and its association with the prognosis was assessed in 60 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue.
RESULTS
The Glut-1 expression was diffuse with a membranous pattern, and the median percentage of Glut-1 positive tumor cells was 60% (range: 0.0~90.0%). A high Glut-1 expression (the percentage of positive tumor cells > or = the median value, 60%) was associated with the location of primary lesion, lymph node metastasis status and disease stage (p<0.05). The expression of Glut-1 was correlated with the Ki-67 expression (r=0.406, p=0.001). Microvessel density, as represented by CD31 staining, was also correlated with the Glut-1 expression although its significance is weak (r=0.267, p=0.039). On the univariate analysis, the group with a high Glut-1 expression showed poorer overall survival than the group with a low Glut-1 expression (p<0.05). However, the Glut-1 expression failed to show any independent prognostic significance on the multivariate analysis.
CONCLUSION
The expression of Glut-1 may be useful for predicting the prognosis and determining the treatment strategy for the management of squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue.

Keyword

Tumor hypoxia; Glucose transporter-1; Squamous cell carcinoma; Tongue

MeSH Terms

Anoxia
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell*
Glucose*
Humans
Immunohistochemistry
Lymph Nodes
Microvessels
Multivariate Analysis
Neoplasm Metastasis
Phenotype
Prognosis
Tongue*
Glucose

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Representative staining of glucose transporter-1 shows brown colored membranous staining (magnification ×200).

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  Fig. 2 Correlation of the Glut-1 expression with the Ki-67 expression and the microvessel density. (A) The percentage of Glut-1 positive cells showed a correlation with the Ki-67 expression (r=0.406, p=0.001). (B) The percentage of Glut-1 positive cells showed a correlation with the microvessel density (r=0.267, p=0.039).

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  Fig. 3 Immunohistochemistry performed on serial tissue sections (magnification ×200). (A) Brown colored membranous staining was observed for the Glut-1 expression. (B) The Ki-67 expression (brown colored nuclear staining) was observed in the same field. (C) Microvessels were found in the stromal areas between the tumor nests.

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  Fig. 4 Overall and disease free survival analyses. (A) A high Glut-1 expression (the percentage of positively stained tumor cells ≥ median value) was significantly associated with poorer overall survival on the univariate analysis as illustrated by the Kaplan-Meier curves. (B) Disease-free survival was not associated with a high Glut-1 expression.

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