Expression of Glut-1 is a prognostic marker for oral squamous cell carcinoma patients.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is among the tenth most common human cancers worldwide with evidence of an increase in incidence rate and mortality. Despite advances in treatment modalities, the prognosis of this cancer is still very poor and has not changed over the past two decades. This study is based on samples collected from 42 patients with a primary OSCC. Immunohistochemical staining for Glut-1 was carried out and compared with the clinicopathological data. Thirty-two patients showed in their tumors a weak or undetectable Glut-1 expression, whereas in tumors of 10 patients a moderate to strong Glut-1 expression was detected. In multivariate Cox's regression hazard analysis, patients whose tumors had a moderate to strong Glut-1 expression possessed a 4.9-fold increased risk of tumor-related death compared to the other patients. Our results suggest that Glut-1 expression is an independent prognostic marker for routine assessment of OSCC.