Hexokinase-II expression in untreated oral squamous cell carcinoma: comparison with FDG PET imaging

Hexokinase is thought to be one of the key factors of glucose catabolism in the cell. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between HK-II expression and 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) uptake in human untreated oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Pre-operatively FDG positron emission tomography (PET) was performed 60 min after FDG injection in all the patients. Maximum standardized uptake value (SUV) was used for evaluation of tumor FDG uptake. Tumor sections were stained immunohistochemically for HK-II. All the tumor sections stained positive for HK-II. Eighteen (95%) tumors in HK-II showed immunostained positive area >50%. HK-II findings revealed eleven (58%) tumors with strong intensity, six (32%) with moderate intensity and two with weak intensity (10%). There was no statistically significant correlation between SUV and the expression of HK-II (p = 0.46). In conclusion, OSCC showed increased FDG accumulation and overexpression of HK-II. However, we did not find any significant relationship between high FDG uptake and overexpression of HK-II in this patient population, and thus other properties need to be evaluated in order to elucidate key factors responsible for FDG activity in OSCC.