Fluorine-18 Fluorodeoxyglucose Uptake in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Correlation with Glucose Transporters and p53 Expression

IntroductionHepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) is one of most lethal cancers worldwide. The prognosis is very poor and therapeutic options are limited. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation of the [18F]FDG uptake profile of three HCC cell lines with p53 and glucose transporters (GLUTs) 1, 2, 3, 5 and 12 expression and with the glucose level present in the cell culture medium.MethodsCell lines used are HepG2 (wp53), HuH7 (overexpress p53) and Hep3B2.1-7 (p53null). An immunocytochemical analysis was performed to evaluate p53 expression. Through uptake studies were analyzed the [18F]FDG uptake profiles of all cell lines under study. The expression of GLUTs were quantified by flow cytometry. The [18F]FDG uptake studies GLUTs expression analysis were performed on cells that grew in a high and low glucose medium in order to determine the effect of glucose concentration on GLUTs expression and on [18F]FDG uptake.ResultsImmunocytochemical analysis confirmed the p53 expression profiles of all cell lines. It was found out that for all cell lines, [18F]FDG uptake is higher when cells grow in low glucose medium, however, the glucose level doesn't affect mostly the GLUTs expression. The Hep3B2.1-7 (p53null) is always the one that have higher [18F]FDG uptake. It was found that not always GLUT1 and GLUT3 are the most expressed by these cell lines.ConclusionsOur results shown that the p53 expression influences [18F]FDG uptake. This suggests that [18F]FDG may be used in HCC diagnosis, and may even provide some information about the genetic profile of the tumor.