ABSTRACT
Purpose To study the expression of HIF-1αand Glut-1 in the molecular subtypes of breast carcinoma and their correlation with basal-like breast carcinoma. Methods 803 cases of invasive breast carcinoma from our database were identified. The clinicopath-ologic findings and the biologic markers including estrogen receptor ( ER) , progesterone receptor ( PR) , and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) status were reviewed. Immunohistochemical MaxVision stains for cytokeratin 5/6 (CK5/6) and epidermal growth factor receptor ( EGFR) were performed. All breast carcinomas were subclassified into Luminal A, Lumincal B, HER-2 over-expression, normal-like, and basal-like subtypes according to Nielsen criteria. Immunohistochemical stain was also used to detect the expression of HIF-1αand Glut-1. Results Positive expression rates of HIF-1αprotein in basal-like, HER-2 over-expression, normal-like, Luminal A and Luminal B substypes were 77. 89% (74/95), 56. 06% (37/66), 55. 76% (92/165), 31. 97% (141/441), 25. 00% (9/36), respectively. The positive expression rates of Glut-1 protein were 80. 00% (76/95), 57. 58% (38/66), 58. 18%(96/165), 34. 01% (150/441), 25. 00% (9/36), respectively. The positive expression rates of HIF-1α and Glut-1 in the basal-like, HER-2 over-expressing and normal-like subtypes were remarkably higher than that in Luminal A and Luminal B subtypes ( P<0. 004 5) and the expression of HIF-1a and Glut-1 was negatively correlated with the expression of ER (P<0. 01). In the ER-negative breast cancers, the positive expression rates of HIF-1a and Glut-1 in basal-like substype were much higher than that in the other sub-types (P<0. 004 5), and the expression of HIF-1α was positively correlated with expression of Glut-1 in basal-like breast carcinoma (P<0. 01). Conclusion The overexpression of HIF-1αand Glut-1 may be closely related to the ER-negative breast cancer and HIF-1α and Glut-1 might play an important role in the development of basal-like breast carcinoma.