Song Dae Hyun, Jo Jae Yoon, Kim Cho Hee, Kim Min Hye, Cho In Ae, Shin Jeong Kyu, Choi Won Jun, Baek Jong Chul
Department of Pathology, Gyeongsang National University School of Medicine, Gyeongsang National University Changwon Hospital, 11, Changwon-si 51472, Republic of Korea.
Institute of Medical Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 52727, Republic of Korea.
Diagnostics (Basel). 2024 Aug 9;14(16):1735. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics14161735.
Hypoxia-regulated proteins (HIF-1α and GLUT-1) have been identified as prognostic markers in various cancers; however, their role in endometrial cancer remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate HIF-1α and GLUT-1 expression in endometrial cancer and correlate their expression with clinicopathological features.
A tissue microarray (TMA) was constructed using specimens from a retrospective cohort of 51 endometrial cancer patients who underwent hysterectomy at the Gyeongsang National University Hospital between 2002 and 2009. Clinicopathologic data were collected from electronic medical records, and HIF-1α and GLUT-1 expressions were assessed in the tumor tissue.
GLUT-1 expression in endometrial cancer was categorized as mosaic, central, or diffuse. Most patients (56.0%) exhibited a central pattern, followed by diffuse (32.0%) and mosaic (12.0%) patterns. GLUT-1 expression was not significantly associated with histologic grade ( = 0.365). HIF-1α expression in immune cells, but not tumor cells, was significantly associated with a higher histologic grade. A higher proportion of HIF-1α-positive immune cells, using both thresholds (≤1% vs. >1% and ≤5% vs. >5%), was significantly associated with higher histologic grade ( = 0.032 and = 0.048, respectively). In addition, a higher proportion of HIF-1α-positive immune cells was significantly associated with a diffuse GLUT-1 expression pattern using >5% as a threshold. There were no significant differences in the proportion of HIF-1α-positive immune cells between groups stratified by age, tumor size, or invasion depth, regardless of whether the 1% or 5% threshold for HIF-1α positivity was used.
A higher proportion of HIF-1α-positive immune cells is associated with endometrial cancers with higher histologic grade and diffuse GLUT1 expression patterns. These findings suggest a potential role for HIF-1α as a prognostic marker and highlight the need for further studies into the role of HIF-1α in the tumor microenvironment.
缺氧调节蛋白（HIF-1α和GLUT-1）已被确定为多种癌症的预后标志物；然而，它们在子宫内膜癌中的作用仍不清楚。本研究旨在评估HIF-1α和GLUT-1在子宫内膜癌中的表达，并将其表达与临床病理特征相关联。
使用2002年至2009年间在庆尚国立大学医院接受子宫切除术的51例子宫内膜癌患者的回顾性队列标本构建组织微阵列（TMA）。从电子病历中收集临床病理数据，并在肿瘤组织中评估HIF-1α和GLUT-1的表达。
子宫内膜癌中GLUT-1的表达分为镶嵌型、中央型或弥漫型。大多数患者（56.0%）表现为中央型，其次是弥漫型（32.0%）和镶嵌型（12.0%）。GLUT-1表达与组织学分级无显著相关性（=0.365）。免疫细胞而非肿瘤细胞中的HIF-1α表达与较高的组织学分级显著相关。使用两个阈值（≤1%与>1%以及≤5%与>5%）时，较高比例的HIF-1α阳性免疫细胞与较高的组织学分级显著相关（分别为=0.032和=0.048）。此外，以>5%为阈值时，较高比例的HIF-1α阳性免疫细胞与弥漫性GLUT-1表达模式显著相关。无论使用1%还是5%的HIF-1α阳性阈值，按年龄、肿瘤大小或浸润深度分层的组间HIF-1α阳性免疫细胞比例均无显著差异。
较高比例的HIF-1α阳性免疫细胞与组织学分级较高和弥漫性GLUT1表达模式的子宫内膜癌相关。这些发现提示HIF-1α作为预后标志物的潜在作用，并强调需要进一步研究HIF-1α在肿瘤微环境中的作用。
