Evaluation of the Expression Intensity of Glucose Transporter-۱ Marker and its Diagnostic Value in Differentiating Between Borderline and Malignant Ovarian Epithelial Tumors

Background: Ovarian cancer ranks second among gynecological cancers worldwide. This study aimed to compare the glucose transporter-۱ (GLUT-۱) expression in benign, borderline, and malignant ovarian epithelial tumors and evaluate GLUT-۱ expression as a diagnostic tool for distinguishing tumors in the ovary.Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study analyzed ۶۹ pathological samples of patients diagnosed with ovarian epithelial tumors who underwent oophorectomy. Immunohistochemical staining was performed using GLUT-۱ antibody. The intensity of cell membrane staining and the proportion of positive neoplastic cells were graded to score immunostaining. Chi-square/Fisher’s exact test was used to analyze the data. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV), and staining accuracy for GLUT-۱ in distinguishing borderline from invasive tumors were calculated by standard methods (P<۰.۰۵).Results: In all benign tumors, GLUT-۱ staining was negative. In addition, weak staining intensity was observed in ۳۸.۵% of borderline tumors, and ۹۶% of invasive tumors had strong staining intensity (P<۰.۰۰۱). Strong GLUT-۱ staining was found in ۹۴.۷% of Papillary Serous Carcinoma, ۹/۱% of Borderline Serous tumors, ۱۰۰% of Brenner tumors, and clear cell carcinoma. The results demonstrated a high diagnostic value of GLUT-۱ expression intensity in differentiating between borderline and malignant ovarian epithelial tumors (Accuracy: ۹۷.۱۰, Sensitivity: ۹۶%, Specificity: ۹۷.۷۳).Conclusion: Overall, GLUT-۱ expression could help distinguish benign from borderline, especially borderline from malignant ovarian epithelial tumors. Thus, it seems that it provides useful prognostic information, particularly for the borderline category

Keywords:

Ovarian epithelial tumors , Immunohistochemical , GLUT-۱ , Benign , Borderline , Malignant