RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Malignant cells exhibit increased glycolytic metabolism, and in many cases increased glucose transporter gene expression. The authors hypothesized that GLUT1 glucose transporter expression is increased in gallbladder carcinoma, and the degree of expression might have prognostic significance. METHODS: To evaluate a possible prognostic factor, we studied the expression of GLUT1 glucose transporter by an immunohistochemical method in 56 gallbladder carcinomas from patients and we compared these results with established prognostic factors. RESULTS: Of the 56 cases, 34 (60.7%) were positive for GLUT1. The expression of GLUT1 was not associated with patient age, sex and histologic type. Whereas the expression of GLUT1 was significantly correlated with depth of tumor invasion and lymph node and distant metastases. CONCLUSIONS: GLUT1 glucose transporter expression is strongly associated with poor prognostic factors of the gallbladder carcinoma and the assessment of the extent of GLUT1 immunostaining identifies patient with poorer prognosis.