Expression of HIF-1α, Glut-1 and VEGF in breast cancer tissue in diabetic patients and its significance / 中华内分泌外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To discuss the protein level of hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha(HIF-1α),glucose transporter-1 (Glut-1)and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) in breast cancer tissue in diabetic patients and its significance.Methods HIF-1α,Glut-1 and VEGF protein levels were measured by immunohistochemical staining in 112 cases of primary breast cancer tissues.CD31 labeled vascular endothelial cells were used to evaluate micro vascular density (MVD).The correlation between the effect of blood sugar control and clinicopathological parameters was analyzed.Results The expression of HIF-1α,Glut-1 and VEGF protein in breast cancer tissues of diabetic patients was significantly higher than that in breast cancer tissues of non-diabetic patients(t =2.255,P =0.030; t =2.154,P=0.038; t =2.225,P =0.032).HIF-1α was positively correlated with Glut-1 and VEGF in diabetic patients with breast cancer (r =0.561,P =0.003 ; r =0.435,P =0.014).The level of MVD in breast cancer tissues of diabetic patients was obviously higher than that in the non-diabetic patients with breast cancer(t =9.458,P =0.000).The effect of blood sugar control was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis and tumor stage in diabetic patients with breast cancer(x2 =4.689,P =0.030; x2 =5.051,P =0.025).Conclusion Hypoxia-related factors including HIF-1α,Glut-1 and VEGF and MVD are upregulated in diabetic patients with breast cancer,and the effect of blood sugar control is correlated with lymph node metastasis and tumor stage,suggesting diabetes mellitus may promote tumor progression through high glucose and hypoxia in breast cancer.