Abstract 2652: Glucose-transporter 1 (GLUT1) is highly expressed in many tumor types and often linked to tumor progression
Authors: Seyma Büyücek, Katharina Möller, Florian Viehweger, Ria Schlichter, Anne Menz, Andreas M Luebke, Viktor Reiswich, Martina Kluth, Claudia Hube-Magg, Elena Bady, Lisa Hornsteiner, Andrea Hinsch, Florian Lutz, Sören Weidemann, Frank Jacobsen, Maximilian Lennartz, David Dum, Christian Bernreuther, Patrik Lebok, Guido Sauter, Andreas H Marx, Ronald Simon, Christoph Fraune, Natalia Gorbokon, Eike Burandt, Sarah Minner, Stefan Steurer, Till Olchers, Sönke von der Weihe, Martin Reck, Till S Clauditz, Till Krech, Viktoria Chirico
Journal: Cancer Research (2025)

Abstract Glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) is a key protein for transmembranous glucose uptake of cells which is often overexpressed in cancer. To better comprehend the prevalence and role of GLUT1 expression in different cancer types, a tissue microarray containing 14, 966 samples from 134 different tumor entities was analyzed in this study. GLUT1 expression was generally markedly higher in cancer than in corresponding normal tissues. A total of 122 of 134 tumor categories showed GLUT1 expression in at least one case, and 97 tumor categories included at least one case with strong GLUT1 staining. The frequency of GLUT1 positivity was particularly high in squamous cell carcinomas of various sites of origin (92.9%-100%), urothelial neoplasms (91.3%-98.7%), and carcinomas of the ovary and the endometrium (up to 100%). Elevated levels of GLUT1 staining were often associated with parameters of cancer aggressiveness. For example, high GLUT1 staining was associated with invasive growth of urothelial carcinomas (p&amp;lt;0.0001), high grade (p=0.0015), advanced pT stage (p=0.0050), and shorter survival (p&amp;lt;0.0040) in clear cell renal cell carcinoma, high grade (p=0.0500), advanced pT stage (p=0.0460), nodal (p=0.0460) and distant metastasis (p=0.0022), as well as shorter recurrence free survival (p=0.0253) in papillary renal cell carcinoma, high BRE grade in invasive breast cancer of no special type (p&amp;lt;0.0001), advanced pT stage (p&amp;lt;0.0001), nodal metastasis (p&amp;lt;0.0001), V1 status (p=0.0005), L1 status (p&amp;lt;0.0001), and mismatch repair protein (MMR) deficiency (p=0.0378) in colorectal adenocarcinoma, advanced pT stage (p=0.0153) and MMR deficiency (p=0.0006) in gastric cancer, advanced pT stage in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (p=0.0068), nodal metastasis in endometrioid carcinoma of the ovary (p=0.0136), advanced pT stage (p=0.0305), nodal metastasis and higher grade (p&amp;lt;0.0001 each) in lung adenocarcinomas, and with overall survival in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC, p=0.0139). It is concluded, that GLUT1 is highly expressed in a broad range of tumor entities, that it occurs more often in malignant than in benign tumors, and that it is linked to aggressive behavior in many different entities. These findings identify GLUT1 as a critical prognostic cancer marker, which may be clinically useful in many cancer types. Citation Format: Seyma Büyücek, Katharina Möller, Florian Viehweger, Ria Schlichter, Anne Menz, Andreas M Luebke, Viktor Reiswich, Martina Kluth, Claudia Hube-Magg, Elena Bady, Lisa Hornsteiner, Andrea Hinsch, Florian Lutz, Sören Weidemann, Frank Jacobsen, Maximilian Lennartz, David Dum, Christian Bernreuther, Patrik Lebok, Guido Sauter, Andreas H Marx, Ronald Simon, Christoph Fraune, Natalia Gorbokon, Eike Burandt, Sarah Minner, Stefan Steurer, Till Olchers, Sönke von der Weihe, Martin Reck, Till S Clauditz, Till Krech, Viktoria Chirico. Glucose-transporter 1 (GLUT1) is highly expressed in many tumor types and often linked to tumor progression [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2025; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2025 Apr 25-30; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2025;85(8_Suppl_1):Abstract nr 2652.