Validity and clinical impact of glucose transporter 1 expression in colorectal cancer

• Published in: Saudi journal of gastroenterology Vol. 23; no. 6; pp. 348 - 356
• Main Authors: GabAllah, Ghada M K, El-Din Habib, Mona Salah, Soliman, Shimaa El-Shafey, Kasemy, Zienab A, Gohar, Suzy F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd 01.11.2017; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd; Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
• Subjects: Age; Biochemistry; Biomarkers; Colonoscopy; Colorectal cancer; Development and progression; Gene expression; Genetic aspects; Glucose metabolism; glucose transporter 1; Health aspects; Hypoxia; Medicine; Metabolism; Original; Patient compliance; Physiological aspects; Prognosis; Proteomics; Public health; real-time polymerase chain reaction; Transport proteins; Tumors; Saudi Arabia
• ISSN: 1319-3767; 1998-4049
• DOI: 10.4103/sjg.SJG_197_17

There is no doubt that colorectal cancer (CRC) poses a major threat to public health worldwide, and despite improvement in managements, prognosis still remains an irritating question with no definite answer. Being a fundamental player in cancer metabolism, glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) could be utilized as a prognostic biomarker that could fuel development of new treatment strategies. The aim of this study was to assess the validity of GLUT1 expression as a prognostic biomarker and to elucidate to what extent it is immersed in poor clinical outcome among CRC patients. GLUT1 expression in peripheral blood specimens was analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in 47 CRC patients and 20 healthy controls. There was significantly elevated GLUT1 expression in peripheral blood of CRC patients than in controls (P < 0.001). The cutoff value of 0.605 provided 98% sensitivity and 100% specificity. There were significantly higher values of GLUT1 expression in patients under 50 years (P = 0.003), performance status 2 (P = 0.009), stage IV (P < 0.001), and presence of metastasis (P < 0.001). GLUT1 expression showed nonsignificant association with overall survival (P = 0.068), while tumor stage (P = 0.01) and metastasis (P = 0.009) were significantly associated with lower overall survival. GLUT1 is sensitive and specific marker for CRC. It is overexpressed in young age patients, poor performance status, and stage IV patients. Although this was not statistically significant, GLUT 1 showed higher expression level in patients with lesser survival.