RESUMEN
Background and purpose:Increased glucose metabolism is a characteristic of malignant tumors.This characteristic might be related to a facilitative glucose transporter(Glut-1) and the proliferating activities of tumors.This study was aimed to assess the relationship among the over-expression of facilitative glucose transporter(Glut-1) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA) as well as the fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose(18F-FDG) uptake of tumors in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.Methods:Between March 2005 and August 2006,40 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma were imaged with 18F-FDG positron emission tomography(PET).Their maximum standard uptake values(SUVmax) were measured.The expression of Glut-1 and the proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA) in the 40 cases were studied in paraffin sections by SP immunohistochemistry.Results:The 18F-FDG uptake of tumors of the 40 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma was 9.4?1.9(SUVmax).All 40 tumors tested Glut-1 positive and PCNA positive.The Glut-1 positive cells consisted of 45.18% of the tumor cell area,whereas the PCNA positive cells consisted of 36.18% of the tumor cell area.There were correlations between Glut-1 expression levels(r=0.369,P=0.019) and the tumors' 18F-FDG uptake but no correlations were found between PCNA expression level and the tumors' 18F-FDG uptake(r=0.135,P=0.407).Conclusion:Glut-1 over-expression correlates with 18F-FDG uptake whereas PCNA over-expression does not correlate with 18F-FDG uptake in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.