Associação da expressão de mct1 e mct4 com índice de proliferação celular e fatores clínicos de tumores malignos da cavidade oral

Abstract

Uncontrolled cell proliferation is the essence of biological behavior of malignancies, comprising highly complex mechanisms. Cellular processes related to respiration are responsible for the energy production and, therefore, essential for cell surviving. Understanding tumor biology is a challenging task, and the knowledge of biomarkers involved in the energy processes of cancer cells is extremely important to better understand the cancer itself. The aim of the present study was to analyze the expression of monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1) and 4 (MCT4) and the relationship of these transporters to cell proliferation rate (Ki67) and clinical features in malignant tumors of the oral cavity. Paraffin-embedded oral biopsy specimens were allocated into the following groups: (1) 14 lymphomas; (2) 5 melanomas; (3) 11 adenocarcinomas (primary and metastases); (4) 15 squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs); and (5) 15 fibroepithelial hyperplasias (control group). Medical records were reviewed considering patients’ age and sex, alcohol and tobacco use, symptoms, and the anatomical site, evolution time and size of the tumor. The immunohistochemical expression of Ki67, MCT1 and MCT4 was analyzed in the sample. Overall, MCT1 and MCT4 were co-expressed in the oral tumors analyzed, especially in SCC and melanoma. MCT1 and MCT4 were positively correlated to each other; MCT1 was also correlated to Ki67, whereas MCT4 was not. These three markers were positively correlated to tumor size, whereas only MCT4 was negatively correlated to the evolution time of the tumor. Conclusion: MCT1 and MCT4 expression supports reverse Warburg effect as an energy profile in oral cancer and its relationship to prognostic factors. Further studies analyzing the specificities of this relationship are needed to provide evidence of a new target in oral oncology therapeutics.