Objective: To assess the relationship between the overexpression of facilitative glucose transporter-1 (Glut1) and fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake in patients with primary lung adenocarcinoma.
Methods: From April 1999 to March 2001, 24 patients with lung adenocarcinoma were imaged with FDG positron emission tomography (PET) before surgery. Their maximum and mean standard uptake value (SUVmax and SUVmean) of tumor and SUV of normal lung (SUVlung) were measured. The expression of Glut1 of all 24 cases was studied in paraffin sections by SP immunohistochemistry.
Results: All 23 tumors tested were Glut1 positive. (35 +/- 23)% of tumor cell area was positive and staining intensity was (3.7 +/- 0.9). All tumors of the patients could be detected by FDG-PET. FDG uptake of tumor was higher than that of normal lung (P < 0.01). SUVmax, SUVmean and SUVlung were (5.46 +/- 3.32), (4.05 +/- 2.54) and (0.43 +/- 0.15) respectively. Correlations were found among Glut1 expression and FDG uptake and tumor size (P < 0.01).
Conclusion: Glut1 overexpression is universal in the lung adenocarcinoma and correlate with FDG uptake.