Prognostic Impacts of Hypoxic Markers in Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Background. We aimed to explore the prognostic impact of the hypoxia-induced factors (HIFαs) 1 and 2, the metabolic HIF-regulated glucose transporter GLUT-1, and carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) in non-gastrointestinal stromal tumor soft tissue sarcomas (non-GIST STS). Methods. Duplicate cores with viable tumor tissue from 206 patients with non-GIST STS were obtained and tissue microarrays were constructed. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to evaluate expression of hypoxic markers. Results. In univariate analyses, GLUT-1 (P < 0.001) and HIF-2α (P = 0.032) expression correlated significantly with a poor disease-specific survival (DSS). In the multivariate analysis, however, only high expression of GLUT-1 (HR 1.7, CI 95% 1.1–2.7, P = 0.021) was a significant independent prognostic indicator of poor DSS. Conclusion. GLUT-1 is a significant independent negative prognostic factor in non-GIST STS.