Journal of Korean Breast Cancer Society  2001;4(2):167-171

doi:10.4048/jkbcs.2001.4.2.167

Prognosis of GLUT1 Expression in Human Breast Carcinoma.

Hyung Joon AHN 1 ; Kil Yeon LEE ; Sang Mok LEE ; Suck Hwan KOH ; Sung Wha HONG ; Soo Myung OH ; Youn Wha KIM

Affiliations

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Keywords

Breast cancer; GLUT1 expression; Prognosis

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

Korean

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.