Glucose transporter type 1 expression are associated with poor prognosis in patients with salivary gland tumors

The objective of this study was to investigate the expression of Glucose transporter type 1 (GLUT1) and its relation to clinicopathologic parameters in patients with salivary gland tumors. Tissue samples were 49 cases of malignant tumors, 38 cases of benign tumors, mainly pleomorphic adenoma and 10 cases of normal salivary glands. Immunohistochemically, GLUT1 Labeling Index of malignant tumor was significantly higher than benign tumor. In RT-PCR assay, GLUT1 mRNA level in malignant tumor were higher than that of normal tissue. In malignant tumors, expression of GLUT1 correlated significantly with tumor size (p=0.002) and distant metastasis (p=0.007). Cumulative survival rate of high expression group was significantly lower than that of low (p<0.001). In multivariable analysis, overall survival significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis (p=0.042) and GLUT1 expression (p=0.022). These results suggest that GLUT1 expression may provide useful prognostic information in patients with salivary gland carcinoma.