Study on the expression of lactate transport-related proteins in follicular lymphoma and their relationship with clinicopathologic features.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the expression of the lactate transport-related proteins MCT1, MCT4, and their chaperone CD147 in follicular lymphoma (FL), and to delineate their potential correlations with clinicopathological parameters predictive of prognosis.

METHODS

Immunohistochemistry was employed to evaluate the expression of MCT1, MCT4, and CD147 in tumor cells. Associations between protein expression and clinicopathological variables relevant to patient outcome were statistically analyzed.

RESULTS

1. MCT1-positive immunoreactivity was significantly associated with elevated serum β2-microglobulin (β2-M, a small circulating protein that rises with disease activity and serves as a marker of tumor load and adverse outcomes in lymphomas) level, male sex, and Ki-67 ≥ 30%; MCT4-positive immunoreactivity was significantly associated with Ki-67 ≥ 30%; CD147-positive immunoreactivity correlated significantly with low-grade FL. 2. Four distinct expression patterns of MCT1/MCT4 were identified: double-positive, double-negative, MCT1-positive only, and MCT4-positive only. High-grade FL demonstrated a significant predilection for either double-positive or single-positive expression; Ki-67 < 30% was significantly linked to the double-negative expression; elevated serum β2-M was significantly associated with MCT1-positive only expression; age ≥60 years and female sex were significantly associated with MCT4-positive only expression.

CONCLUSION

The expression of MCT1, MCT4, and CD147 in FL is correlated with adverse clinicopathological features, thereby furnishing additional evidence for refinement of the Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index (FLIPI, a five-parameter clinical score predicting outcome in newly diagnosed follicular lymphoma). Targeted inhibition of MCT1 and MCT4 may represent a novel therapeutic strategy. Furthermore, the heterogeneous expression of these three proteins suggests metabolic heterogeneity within FL, offering a mechanistic basis for future investigations.