Ruan Z, Wang Y, Shi L, Yang XJ. Progress of research on glucose transporter proteins in hepatocellular carcinoma. World J Hepatol 2025; 17(3): 104715 [DOI: 10.4254/wjh.v17.i3.104715]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Xiao-Jun Yang, Professor, Department of General Surgery, Gansu Provincial People’s Hospital, No. 199 Donggang West Road, Chengguan District, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China. yangxjmd@aliyun.com
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Hepatol. Mar 27, 2025; 17(3): 104715 Published online Mar 27, 2025. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v17.i3.104715
Progress of research on glucose transporter proteins in hepatocellular carcinoma
Zheng Ruan, Yan Wang, Lei Shi, Xiao-Jun Yang
Zheng Ruan, The First Clinical Medical School, Gansu University of Chinese Medicine, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China
Yan Wang, Division of Personnel, Gansu Provincial People’s Hospital, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China
Lei Shi, Department of General Surgery, The Second people’s Hospital of Lanzhou, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China
Xiao-Jun Yang, Department of General Surgery, Gansu Provincial People’s Hospital, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China
Co-first authors: Zheng Ruan and Yan Wang.
Author contributions: Ruan Z, Wang Y, and Lei S have been involved equally and have read and approved the final manuscript; Yang XJ verify the validity of the results reported.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xiao-Jun Yang, Professor, Department of General Surgery, Gansu Provincial People’s Hospital, No. 199 Donggang West Road, Chengguan District, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China. yangxjmd@aliyun.com
Received: December 29, 2024 Revised: February 2, 2025 Accepted: February 17, 2025 Published online: March 27, 2025 Processing time: 86 Days and 17 Hours
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant tumour with high prevalence and mortality rate worldwide. Metabolic reprogramming of cancer cells may be a major factor in the process of this disease. Glucose transporter proteins (GLUTs) are members of the major facilitator superfamily of membrane transporters, playing a pivotal role in the metabolic reprogramming and tumour progression in HCC. This review discusses the advances in the study of GLUTs in HCC, including the expression patterns, functions and possibilities of GLUTs. In HCC, the expression levels of GLUTs are closely associated with tumour aggressiveness, metabolic reprogramming and prognosis. A series of inhibitors have been demonstrated efficacy in inhibiting HCC cell growth and glucose uptake in in vitro and in vivo models. These inhibitors offer a novel approach to HCC treatment by reducing the glucose metabolism of tumour cells, thereby impeding tumour growth, and concurrently enhancing the sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents. This reminds us of the urgent need to elucidate GLUTs’ roles in HCC and to determine the most effective ways to translate these findings into clinical practice.
Core Tip: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a predominant liver cancer subtype, exhibits a high mortality rate mainly due to difficulties in early detection and rapid disease advancement. Glucose transporter proteins, essential for glucose uptake, significantly influence HCC progression and are pivotal in glucose metabolism and tumor development.
