Studying The Expression of Glucose Transporter Type 1 in the Histological Grades of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Introduction: One of the widespread features of human malignant tumors, including oral carcinoma, is the overexpression of glucose transporters, particularly Glut-1. Objectives: This study aimed at investigating the prognostic value of Glucose transporter 1 expression in various histological grades of the oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Materials and Methods: 45 Paraffin blocks, belonged to 45 patients who were diagnosed with OSCC, were selected for immune stain GLUT-1 test at the Pathology Department, Damascus University. Tumor grading scale by WHO 2010 was chosen in this study. The immuno-reactive score was calculated for GLUT-1 by multiplying proportion and intensity score of stain. The obtained data were processed and analyzed by SPSS 21. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to measure correlation between GLUT-1 staining and grade of tumor. P<0.005 was taken as significant. Results: The expression of Glut-1 was observed in all grades of OSCC. In grade III, it was noticed that this expression is higher in comparison to grades I, and II. There was a moderate negative correlation between the age and the tumor grade, while gender was not significantly relevant to the tumor grade. The Glut-1 expression had no significant relation to age and gender. Conclusions: As histological grades of OSCC increased, there were higher immune-histochemical staining scores. Thus, it can be relied on Glut-1 as a marker for the histological grades of OSCC, and the relevant overexpression can signify the malignant behavior of tumor.