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

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 ≥ the median value, 60%) was associated with the location of primary lesion, lymph node me ta sta sis sta tus a nd dise a se sta ge (p＜0 .0 5 ) .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

Distribution of Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1α and Glucose Transporter-1 in Human Tongue Cancers

“…It is believed that GLUT-1 is one of the adaptive strategies that permit tumor growth and progression in an environment characterized by marked oxygenation instability. 12,39 GLUT-1 was expressed in the cytoplasm and membrane of neoplastic cells in 100% of the TSCC cases studied, in agreement with the findings of Kunkel et al 18 and Choi et al, 19 who observed greater membrane and/or cytoplasmic expression in OSCCs. In contrast, Li et al 38 and Ogane et al 40 reported a predominance of membrane expression in head and neck SCC.…”

“…A significant association was observed between the expression of GLUT-1 and the clinical stage. Similar results have been reported by Kato et al 33 for esophageal carcinoma, Choi et al 19 for lip SCC, and Ayala et al 34 for OSCC, highlighting the importance of the association between this immunomarker and tumor stage and its use as a diagnostic and prognostic marker. However, Schrijvers et al 35 found no association between the parameters of clinical evolution and GLUT-1 staining intensity in cases of SCC of the larynx.…”

“…The slides were assessed independently by 2 investigators, who were unaware of the clinical data; any disagreement was resolved by discussion. The staining intensity and distribution were evaluated according to the method of Choi et al, 19 Tanaka et al, 20 and Andersen et al, 21 to determine the immunoexpression in stroma or parenchymal cells, the cellular location of this staining (membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus), and location at the periphery or in the center of the tumor islands. Staining intensity was evaluated using scores of 0 to 2, with 0 indicating no staining, 1, weak staining, and 2, strong staining.…”

Plumbagin‐mediating GLUT1 suppresses the growth of human tongue squamous cell carcinoma

“…In this study, we analyzed the expression level of GLUT1 in 45 cases of TSCC and found that GLUT1 was expressed in all 45 cases. Additionally, the intensity of GLUT1 expression was found to be related to lymph node metastasis and clinic stages, this finding that resembles Choi's results (Choi et al., ). A pertinency between FDG SUV and GLUT1 expression was found in different cancers (Yen et al., ).…”

Hypoxia-related protein expression and its clinicopathologic implication in carcinoma of unknown primary

“…In fact, Glut-1 expression has been associated with a poor prognosis in gallbladder cancer [19], oral SC [20], SC of the tongue [21], pancreatic cancer [22], and soft tissue sarcoma [23], and the association between HIF1α and poor prognosis has been reported in breast cancer [24][25][26], nonsmall cell lung cancer [27], nasopharyngeal carcinoma [28], esophageal SC [29], and laryngeal SC [30]. In addition, COX2 expression has been associated with a poor prognosis in laryngeal SC [30] and nasopharyngeal carcinoma [28].…”