Correlation between glucose transporter-1 expression and 18F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose uptake on positron emission tomography in lung cancer.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to determine if glucose transporter-1 (Glut1) expression correlates with (18)F-FDG ((18)F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose) uptake on positron emission tomography (PET) in lung cancer and to examine the similarities and differences between them.


METHODS
A total of 34 patients with resected primary lung cancers were investigated in this study. There were 17 adenocarcinomas, 12 squamous cell carcinomas, and 5 cancers of other cell types. Immunohistochemical Glut1 intensity was categorized into three groups: negative, positive, and strongly positive. Glut1 frequency was defined by the proportion of positive cells among all cancer cells, and it was graded on a semiquantitative scale as 0-100% in 10% increments. The data are expressed as the mean +/- SD.


RESULTS
Maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax) were 4.8 +/- 6.3 in "negative" Glut1 intensity cases, 4.7 +/- 3.1 in "positive" Glut1 intensity cases, and 11.2 +/- 5.2 in "strongly positive" Glut1 intensity cases. Although SUVmax correlated significantly with tumor size (correlation coefficient 0.58, P = 0.00033), Glut1 frequency did not correlate significantly with tumor size (correlation coefficient 0.18, P = 0.301). Cell type and cell differentiation correlated significantly with Glut1 expression and (18)F-FDG uptake.


CONCLUSIONS
Glut1 expression correlates significantly with (18)F-FDG uptake. There are similarities in cell differentiation and cell type between Glut1 expression and (18)F-FDG uptake. (18)F-FDG uptake correlates significantly with tumor size, but Glut1 expression does not.
Usuda
Katsuo
K
Department of Thoracic Surgery, Kanazawa Medical University, 1-1 Daigaku Uchinada, Ishikawa, 920-0293, Japan. usuda@kanazawa-med.ac.jp
Sagawa
Motoyasu
M
Aikawa
Hirokazu
H
Ueno
Masakatsu
M
Tanaka
Makoto
M
Machida
Yuichiro
Y
Zhao
Xi-Tong
XT
Ueda
Yoshimichi
Y
Higashi
Koutaro
K
Sakuma
Tsutomu
T
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / Q000378:metabolism; D051272:Glucose Transporter Type 1 / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007564:Japan; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000378:metabolism
D051272:Glucose Transporter Type 1; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; C495677:SLC2A1 protein, human; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18