Aerobic Glycolysis as a Marker of Tumor Aggressiveness: Preliminary Data in High Grade Human Brain Tumors.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

Glucose metabolism outside of oxidative phosphorylation, or aerobic glycolysis (AG), is a hallmark of active cancer cells that is not directly measured with standard (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET). In this study, we characterized tumor regions with elevated AG defined based on PET measurements of glucose and oxygen metabolism.

METHODS:

Fourteen individuals with high-grade brain tumors underwent structural MR scans and PET measurements of cerebral blood flow (CBF), oxygen (CMRO2) and glucose (CMRGlu) metabolism, and AG, using (15)O-labeled CO, O2 and H2O, and FDG, and were compared to a normative cohort of 20 age-matched individuals.

RESULTS:

Elevated AG was observed in most high-grade brain tumors and it was associated with decreased CMRO2 and CBF, but not with significant changes in CMRGlu. Elevated AG was a dramatic and early sign of tumor growth associated with decreased survival. AG changes associated with tumor growth were differentiated from the effects of nonneoplastic processes such as epileptic seizures.

CONCLUSIONS:

Our findings demonstrate that high-grade brain tumors exhibit elevated AG as a marker of tumor growth and aggressiveness. AG may detect areas of active tumor growth that are not evident on conventional FDG PET.

• Authors: Andrei G Vlassenko, Jonathan McConathy, Lars E Couture, Yi Su, Parinaz Massoumzadeh, Hayden S Leeds, Michael R Chicoine, David D Tran, Jiayi Huang, Sonika Dahiya, Daniel S Marcus, Sarah Jost Fouke, Keith M Rich, Marcus E Raichle, Tammie L S Benzinger
• Journal: Disease markers (Dis Markers) Vol. 2015 Pg. 874904 ( 2015) ISSN: 1875-8630 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 26424903 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Biomarkers, Tumor
• Radiopharmaceuticals
• Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
• Glucose

Topics

• Adult
• Biomarkers, Tumor (metabolism)
• Brain Neoplasms (diagnostic imaging, metabolism, pathology)
• Case-Control Studies
• Female
• Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
• Glucose (metabolism)
• Glycolysis
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Oxygen Consumption
• Positron-Emission Tomography
• Radiopharmaceuticals