J Korean Breast Cancer Soc.  2001 Dec;4(2):167-171. 10.4048/jkbcs.2001.4.2.167.

Prognosis of GLUT1 Expression in Human Breast Carcinoma

• Ahn HJ
• Lee KY
• Lee SM
• Koh SH
• Hong SW
• Oh SM
• Kim YW

• KMID: 2173600
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4048/jkbcs.2001.4.2.167

Abstract

PURPOSE: An increase of glucose uptake and glycolytic metabolism has been reported in malignant cells as compared with normal cells and tissues. We hypothesized that human erythrocyte glucose transporter-1 (GLUT1) expression is increased in breast carcinoma and may be correlated with long term clinical outcome.
METHODS
Two hundred ninety formalin fixed, paraffin embedded sections of infiltrating ductal carcinomas of the breast were immunostained with anti-GLUT1.
RESULTS
Among the known clinicopathological prognostic factors, GLUT1 expression was correlated positively with histological grade (p=0.000) and tumor size (p=0.003). In a multivariate analysis, lymph node involvement and GLUT1 expression were statistically significant prognostic factors. The cummulative survival rates of GLUT1 expression and LN involvement were statistically significant (p=0.0061, p=0.0009) respectively. Our results suggest that 1) GLUT1 expression is correlated with histological grade and tumor size, and 2) GLUT1 expression correlates with a poorer prognosis in patients with infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the breast.
CONCLUSION
The results of our study suggest that immunohistochemical staining of GLUT1 expression is strongly associated with neoplastic progression in breast carcinoma, and that GLUT1 expression has value in estimating the prognosis of patients with breast carcinoma.

Keyword

Breast cancer; GLUT1 expression; Prognosis

MeSH Terms

Breast Neoplasms*
Breast*
Carcinoma, Ductal
Erythrocytes
Formaldehyde
Glucose
Humans*
Lymph Nodes
Metabolism
Multivariate Analysis
Paraffin
Prognosis*
Survival Rate
Formaldehyde
Glucose
Paraffin