Expression of glucose transporter 1 and prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer: a pooled analysis of 1665 patients

Glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) plays an important role in the transport and metabolism of glucose in cancer cells. An increasing number of studies have explored the connection between GLUT1 expression and prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but the results have been controversial. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to obtain a comprehensive evaluation of the prognostic value of GLUT1 in NSCLC. Relevant studies from PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were searched. Hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used as the effective measures. A total of 10 studies involving 1,665 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The results showed that GLUT1 overexpression was associated with poor overall survival (HR = 2.21; 95% CI, 1.42–3.42; p < 0.001) and disease-free survival (HR = 1.73; 95% CI, 1.35–2.23; p < 0.001). Furthermore, elevated GLUT1 expression correlated with sex (OR = 2.29; 95% CI, 1.17–4.49; p = 0.015), advanced tumor stage (OR = 2.46; 95% CI, 1.79–3.38; p < 0.001), histology (OR = 6.99; 95% CI, 4.71–10.38; p < 0.001), and large tumor size (OR = 2.77; 95% CI, 1.73–4.44; p < 0.001). This meta-analysis revealed overexpression of GLUT1 to be a biomarker of worse prognosis in NSCLC.