Study on the relationship between MCT-1 and p53 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Objective:The aim of this study is to investigate the expression and clinical significance of monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT-1) and p53 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). Method:Immunohistochemical staining of MCT-1 and p53 was carried out in 41 cases of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma embedded in paraffin, and the relationship between positive expression and clinicopathological data was evaluated. All data were analyzed by SPSS software (Windows version 21.0). Result:In normal mucosa p53 expression was absent; while, the basal "stem cell" layer is highly enriched in MCT-1. The positive expression of MCT-1 and p53 in the 41 cases of LSCC was 73.2% and 61.0% respectively. The differential expressions of MCT-1 and p53 in LSCC and normal tissues had significant difference (P=0.002, P=0.028). In the well-differentiated tumor tissues, MCT-1 was mainly expressed in the highly invasive cancerous cells. In poorly differentiated tumors, cells in the nests diffusely stain strongly for MCT-1. Of the 41 cases of LSCC, MCT-1 and p53 was significantly associated with histologic grade (P=0.046, P=0.047), clinical stage (P=0.023, P=0.044) and lymph node metastasis (P=0.044, P=0.005). However, over expression of MCT-1 and p53 had no relation with age (P=0.945, P=0.364), gender (P=1.0, P=1.0) and tumor location (P=0.456, P=0.51). Spearman analysis is shown a positive correlation with MCT-1 and p53 (r=0.418, P=0.006). Conclusion:MCT-1 is an importer of L-lactate and ketone bodies into cells, and high expression of MCT-1 induces high OXPHOS and low glycolytic states. We show here that MCT-1 is the best marker of the basal stem cell layer of normal mucosa, and its expression correlate with high p53 expression in LSCC. Therefore, MCT-1 is a new target for the development of anticancer drugs for laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.