Expression of hypoxia inducible factor 1α and glucose transporter 1 in lung adenocarcinoma and their clinical significances

Abstract

Objective To investigate the expression of hypoxia inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) and glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) in lung adenocarcinoma and its correlation with tumor metastasis. Methods SP immunohistochemistry was used to detect GLUT1 and HIF-1α protein expression in 125 lung adenocarcinoma, including 41 cases without metastasis, 38 cases with lymphatic metastasis and 46 cases with brain metastasis. The correlation of GLUT1 and HIF-1α in lung adenocarcinoma metastasis was analyzed by using χ2 test and Pearson correlation analysis. Results Most lung adenocarcinoma were histologically heterogeneous, which contained more than one adenocarcinoma type. 73.2 % (30/41) cases were acinar predominant adenocarcinoma in lung adenocarcinoma without metastasis; 53.6 % (15/38) cases were acinar predominant adenocarcinoma and 26.3 % (10/38) cases were solid predominant adenocarcinoma in lung adenocarcinoma with lymphatic metastasis; 47.8 % (22/46) cases were papillary predominant adenocarcinoma and 34.8 % (16/46) cases were solid predominant adenocarcinoma in lung adenocarcinoma with brain metastases. The expression level of GLUT1 and HIF-1α in lung adenocarcinoma with lymphatic metastasis group was higher than that of the group without tumor metastasis (P < 0.05); the expression of GLUT1 and HIF-1α were positively correlated (r= 0.407, P= 0.000). Conclusions Papillary adenocarcinoma is the most histological type in lung adenocarcinoma with brain metastasis, suggesting that papillary adenocarcinoma is more prone to brain metastasis. The expression of GLUT1 and HIF-1α play an important role in lymph node metastasis and brain metastasis of lung adenocarcinoma. Key words: Adenocarcinoma, bronchiolo-alveolar; Glucose transporter type 1; Hypoxia inducible factor 1, αsubunit; Immunohistochemistry