Table 1.
Expression of glucose transporters in cancer cells.
| Cancer | Changes in expression of glucose transporters |
|---|---|
| Hepatocellular carcinoma | 1) Overexpression of GLUT1 in both primary and metastatic hepatic tumors; |
| 2) Lack of GLUT1 expression in hepatoblastomas; | |
| 3) Overexpression of GLUT2; | |
| 4) Decreased levels of GLUT2 in preneoplastic and neoplastic hepatic lesions; | |
| 5) Significantly higher expression of GLUT5 in the liver metastatic lesions tumors. Higher level of GLUT5 in the liver carcinoma; | |
| 6) Overexpression of SGLT1. | |
| Gallbladder carcinoma | 1) Overexpression of GLUT1. Its expression increases from low-grade dysplasia toward carcinoma, and from benign toward malignant lesions. |
| Biliary intraepitheliala neoplasi | 1) Expression of GLUT1 is correlated with aggressiveness of neoplasia and poor prognosis; |
| 2) GLUT2 is detected only in the high-grade biliary intraepithelial neoplasia (BilIN). Its expression with cholangiocarcinogenesis of the large bile duct, may be a marker for the presence of high-grade BilIN lesions and atypical bile ducts. Expression of GLUT2 is correlated with early stage of carcinogenesis from high-grade neoplasia to invasive cholangiocarcinoma. | |
| Pancreatic tumors | 1) The level of GLUT1 expression depends on the stage of neoplasia; in stage pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasms (PanIN)-1A GLUT1 is not expressed in cancer cells, whereas in stage PanIN-3, its expression is significantly higher. No such expression was detected in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors; |
| 2) GLUT2 is expressed in malignant tumors, but not in benign tumors. Its overexpression is detected in liver metastases, but not other metastases. Its expression in neuroendocrine tumors is downregulated; | |
| 3) Expression of GLUT4 is detected in the malignant pancreatic tumors, but not benign tumors. Studies suggest that GLUT4 expression is decreased in pancreatic tumors; | |
| 4) SGLT1 levels is correlated with Bcl-2 expression in pancreatic cancer patients. | |
| Gastric cancer | 1) Expression of GLUT1 is detected in late carcinogenesis and increases with disease progression; |
| 2) GLUT2 and GLUT3 are overexpressed in gastric tumors. | |
| Colorectal cancer | 1) Level of GLUT1 is correlated with cancer stage; |
| 2) Some studies revealed overexpression of GLUT2 in colorectal cancer; | |
| 3) GLUT4 is overexpressed in colon adenocarcinoma and in colon cancer; | |
| 4) SGLT1 is overexpressed in colorectal cancer, and its expression is correlated with the clinical stage of cancer. | |
| Kidney cancer | 1) GLUT1 is upregulated in renal cell carcinoma; |
| 2) GLUT2 is downregulated in renal cell carcinoma; | |
| 3) Level of GLUT3 mRNA is increased; | |
| 4) GLUT4 expression may be downregulated, or upregulated depending on the type of renal cancer; | |
| 5) GLUT5 is overexpressed in renal cell carcinoma; | |
| 6) GLUT9 and GLUT12 are downregulated in kidney cancer. | |
| Prostate cancer | 1) GLUT1 is overexpressed and its expression depends on the malignancy grade; |
| 2) GLUT3 and GLUT5 are expressed in normal prostate gland tissue, but not prostate carcinoma; | |
| 3) GLUT5 expression is observed in the high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia; | |
| 4) Level of GLUT7 mRNA is higher in benign tissue than in prostate cancer; | |
| 5) The level of GLUT9 mRNA in prostate cancer is decreased in comparison with benign tissue; | |
| 6) Level of GLUT11 mRNA in prostate cancer is higher as compared to benign prostate cancer; | |
| 7) GLUT12 expression is detected in malignant prostate tissue, but not in benign prostate hyperplasia; | |
| 8) Level of SGLT1 is increased in prostate cancer cells; | |
| 9) SGLT2 is expressed in prostate adenocarcinoma, but not in the normal prostate gland. | |
| Cervical cancer | 1) GLUT1 is overexpressed and its expression is correlated with the histologic grade of a tumor; |
| 2) The SLC2A6 gene is the most highly expressed gene of 40 genes investigated in endometrial cancer. | |
| Ovarian cancer | 1) Normal ovarian epithelial cells are negative or weakly positive for GLUT1, whereas epithelial ovarian cancer cells are positive for GLUT1. |
| Expression is correlated with the grade of tumor; | |
| 2) GLUT3 is not detected in normal ovarian tissue, whereas high immunostaining is detected in ovarian cancer; | |
| 3) GLUT4 is not detected in normal ovarian tissue or malignant tumors; however, in some studies its expression was detected in ovarian tumor cells; | |
| 4) Expression of SGLT1 increases with tumor grade. | |
| Breast cancer | 1) GLUT1 is overexpressed in breast cancer, whereas healthy breast cells are negative or slightly positive for this glucose transporter; |
| 2) GLUT5 expression is observed in human breast cancer cells, but not in normal human breast tissue; | |
| 3) NIS expression is observed in 13% of normal breast tissue samples, and in 76-89% of breast cancer samples. | |
| Lung cancer | 1) Expression of GLUT1–GLUT5 depends on the histological subtype of lung cancer; |
| 2) SGLT1 is overexpressed in lung cancer; | |
| 3) SGLT2 expression is significantly higher in metastatic areas than primary tumors; | |
| 4) NIS is detected in lung carcinoma samples but not in healthy human lung tissue. | |
| Brain cancer | 1) GLUT1 mRNA level correlates with astrocytoma grade, whereas GLUT1 protein is not detected in human brain tumors; |
| 2) GLUT3 level correlates with glioma grade, and is the predominant glucose transporter in highly malignant cells of the human brain; | |
| 3) The level of GLUT4 mRNA correlates with glioma tumor grade. | |
| 4) Level of GLUT4 mRNA correlates with glioma tumor grade. | |
| Thyroid cancer | 1) GLUT1, GLUT3, and GLUT14 are upregulated, and their expression correlates with advanced tumor stage, tumor aggressiveness, and poor prognosis; |
| 2) GLUT9 is not detected in normal thyroid tissue, whereas its expression is detected in papillary thyroid carcinoma; | |
| 3) High NIS expression is observed in thyroid cancers, but its activity depends on its cellular localization. | |
| Adrenocortical carcinoma | 1) GLUT1 and GLUT3 are detected in the adrenocortical carcinoma samples but not in normal adrenal glands or adenomas. |
| Thymic carcinomas | 1) GLUT1 is upregulated and its overexpression depends on the subtype of thymic carcinoma. |
| Skin cancer | 1) GLUT1 is downregulated in nonmelanoma skin cancer; |
| 2) In melanoma samples, expression of GLUT1 depends on the explants of melanoma. | |
| Laryngeal cancer | 1) GLUT1 mRNA and protein levels positively correlate with tumor grade. |
| Bone cancer | 1) GLUT1 is overexpressed in osteosarcoma cells and its level is significantly associated with tumor node metastasis. |
| Multiple myeloma | 1) Overexpression of GLUT1, GLUT4, GLUT8, and GLUT11 is observed in cancer cell lines; |
| 2) GLUT3 is downregulated in these cancer cell lines. | |
| Lymphomas | 1) GLUT1 is not detected in cancer cells; |
| 2) Level of GLUT3 is higher in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma than in normal cells; | |
| 3) GLUT4 is overexpressed in chronic lymphoblastic leukemia in comparison with normal B-cells. |