Glucose transporter GLUT1 expression and clinical outcome in solid tumors: a systematic review and meta-analysis

// Ji Wang 1, 2, * , Chenyang Ye 3, * , Cong Chen 1, 2 , Hanchu Xiong 1, 2 , Binbin Xie 1, 2 , Jichun Zhou 1, 2 , Yongxia Chen 1, 2 , Shu Zheng 3, 4 , Linbo Wang 1, 2 1 Department of Surgical Oncology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310016, China 2 Biomedical Research Center and Key Laboratory of Biotherapy of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310016, China 3 Cancer Institute (Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Intervention, China National Ministry of Education), 2nd Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310009, China 4 Reseach Center for Air Pollution and Health, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310009, China * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Linbo Wang, email: linbo.wang@aliyun.com Shu Zheng, email: zhengshu@zju.edu.cn Keywords: GLUT1, solid tumors, prognosis, overall survival, disease-free survival Received: November 17, 2016      Accepted: January 26, 2017      Published: February 07, 2017 ABSTRACT Glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1), the uniporter protein encoded by the SLC2A1 gene, is a key rate-limiting factor in the transport of glucose in cancer cells, and frequently expressed in a significant proportion of human cancers. Numerous studies have reported paradoxical evidence of the relationship between GLUT1 expression and prognosis in solid human tumors. To address this discrepancy, we conducted a thorough search of Pubmed and Web of Science for studies evaluating the expression of GLUT1 and overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with solid cancer from 1993 to April 2016. Data from published researches were extracted and computed into odds ratio (OR). A total of 26 studies including 2948 patients met our search criteria and were evaluated. Overexpression of GLUT1 was found to significantly correlate with poor 3-year OS (OR: 2.86; 95% CI, 1.90–4.32, P < 0.00001) and 5-year OS (OR: 2.52; 95% CI, 1.75–3.61, P < 0.00001) of solid tumors. Similar results were observed when analysis of DFS was performed. Subgroup analysis revealed that elevated GLUT1 expression was associated with worse prognosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma and breast cancer. Taken together, overexpression of GLUT1 is correlated with poor survival in most solid tumors, suggesting that the expression status of GLUT1 is a vital prognostic indicator and promising therapeutic target in solid tumors.