OBJECTIVETo examine the expression and distribution of glucose transporter 1(GLUT1) in gastric cancer tissues and investigate its relation to clinicopathological parameters and prognosis of patients with gastric carcinoma.

METHODSImmunohistochemistry was used to examine the expression of GLUT1 in 79 samples of gastric carcinoma tissue. The association of GLUT1 expressive features with clinicopathological characteristics, including histological subtype, depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, and patients' prognosis were analyzed.

RESULTSNone of normal gastric epithelium expressed GLUT1, whereas 28 of 79 carcinoma samples(35.4%) were positive. Well differentiation type, median differentiation type and poorly differentiation type were GLUT1 positive in 56.5%, 33.3%, and 36.0% cases respectively, while the Signet ring cell carcinoma and mucinous adenocarcinoma were rarely positive(1/6 and 7.7%, respectively). GLUT1 positivity was associated with histological subtype(P=0.044), tumor size(P<0.01), lymph node metastasis(P=0.032), and carcinoma stage(P=0.007). One year survival rates of patients with GLUY1 positive and negative were 64.3% and 90.2% respectively(P=0.035).

CONCLUSIONIn human gastric carcinoma, GLUT1 expression is associated with tumor aggressiveness, and may be a useful marker of prognosis.