title: Glucose transporter-1 expression in squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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.
  
  
  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 approximately 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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Korea University Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Yoon Seok
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Seok Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Dae Sik
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seh Jong
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Hye Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Kwang-Yoon
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Seung-Kuk
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Baek
authors.forename: Bong Kyung
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Jung Woo
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Byung Soo
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sang Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Yeul Hong
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jun Suk
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim