Expression of glucose transporters 1 and 3 in metastatic and non-metastatic lower lip squamous cell carcinoma.

Clarissa Favero Demeda,Leão Pereira Pinto,Lélia Batista De Souza,Ana Rafaela Luz De Aquino,Cyntia Helena Pereira De Carvalho,Cassiano Francisco Weege Nonaka

doi:10.1590/0103-6440201300054

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the immunoexpression of glucose transporters 1 (GLUT-1) and 3 (GLUT-3) in metastatic and non-metastatic lower lip squamous cell carcinoma (LLSCC). Twenty LLSCCs with regional nodal metastasis and 20 LLSCCs without metastasis were selected. The distribution of staining and the percentage of GLUT-1 and GLUT-3 staining in each tumor core and at the deep invasive front were assessed. Most tumors (70%) exhibited peripheral staining for GLUT-1 in nests, sheets and islands of neoplastic cells, whereas predominantly central staining was observed for GLUT-3 (72.5%). A high percentage of GLUT-1-positive cells was observed at the deep invasive front and in the tumor core of metastatic and non-metastatic tumors (p>0.05). The percentage of GLUT-1-positive cells was much higher than that of GLUT-3-positive cells both in the deep invasive front (p<0.001) and in the tumor core (p<0.001) of LLSCCs. No significant differences in the percentage of GLUT-1- and GLUT-3-positive cells were observed according to nodal metastasis, clinical stage or histological grade of malignancy (p>0.05). In conclusion, the results of the present study suggest an important role of GLUT-1 in glucose uptake in LLSCCs, although this protein does not seem to be involved in the progression of these tumors. On the other hand, GLUT-3 expression may represent a secondary glucose uptake mechanism in LLSCCs.

Highlights

Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common malignancy in the lower lip [1]
Hypoxia is an important characteristic of solid tumors and advanced head and neck carcinomas and this condition is associated with a poor prognosis [11,21]
Few studies have investigated the expression of glucose transporters 1 (GLUT-1) and GLUT-3 in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) [4,10,11,12,13,22,23] and, to the authors’ knowledge, there are no investigations on the immunoexpression of these glucose transporters in lower lip squamous cell carcinoma (LLSCC)

Summary

Introduction

Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common malignancy in the lower lip [1]. Lower lip squamous cell carcinoma (LLSCC) is slow growing, up to 29% of tumors develop metastases to the cervical lymph nodes [2]. Patients who develop late cervical metastases have a poor prognosis, with a 5-year survival rate of only 25% to 50% [3]. The neoplastic cells undergo changes in order to adapt to and survive under these conditions, favoring invasion and metastases. During this process of adaptation, malignant neoplastic cells increase the uptake and metabolism of glucose [5,7,8]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion