Expression of glucose transporter-1, hypoxia inducible factor-1α and beclin-1 in head and neck cancer and their implication

Previous studies have demonstrated that oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, and hypoxic factors are involved in the pathogenesis, development, and progression of head and neck cancer. In this study, we investigated the expression of HIF-1 alpha, GLUT-1, and beclin-1 in head and neck cancers and analyzed the relationship between these markers and clinicopathologic factors. 44 paraffin-embedded samples of head and neck cancer specimens were collected. The expression of HIF-1 alpha, GLUT-1, Ki 67, and beclin-1 was detected by immunohistochemical technique. The expression of HIF-1 alpha, GLUT-1, Ki 67, and beclin-1 in head and neck cancers were higher than those for the corresponding paracancerous tissues. Stratification analysis revealed a significant difference between GLUT-1 expression in older patients with laryngeal/hypopharyngeal SCC and younger patients with laryngeal/hypopharyngeal SCC. No significant differences in GLUT-1 or beclin-1 or HIF-1 alpha or Ki 67 expression were found between clinicopathologic characteristics, including lymph node metastasis, T stage, clinical stage, and location, for any of the cancer types studied. Pearson analysis revealed that there was a negative correlation between beclin-1 and HIF-1 alpha (r=0.482, P=0.001), and between beclin-1 and Ki-67 (r=-0.366, P=0.0151). Whether beclin-1 plays a role in carcinogenesis in head and neck cancers should be further studied.