Correlation between glucose transporter-1 expression and 18F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose uptake on positron emission tomography in lung cancer.

The aim of this study was to determine if glucose transporter-1 (Glut1) expression correlates with ¹⁸F-FDG (¹⁸F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose) uptake on positron emission tomography (PET) in lung cancer and to examine the similarities and differences between them. 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. 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 ¹⁸F-FDG uptake. Glut1 expression correlates significantly with ¹⁸F-FDG uptake. There are similarities in cell differentiation and cell type between Glut1 expression and ¹⁸F-FDG uptake. ¹⁸F-FDG uptake correlates significantly with tumor size, but Glut1 expression does not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]