cancers Review Glucose Transporters as a Target for Anticancer Therapy Monika Pliszka and Leszek Szablewski * Chair and Department of General Biology and Parasitology, Medical University of Warsaw, 5 Chalubinskiego Str., 02-004 Warsaw, Poland;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +48-22-621-26-07 Simple Summary: For mammalian cells, glucose is a major source of energy. In the presence of oxygen, a complete breakdown of glucose generates 36 molecules of ATP from one molecule of glucose. Hypoxia is a hallmark of cancer; therefore, cancer cells prefer the process of glycolysis, which generates only two molecules of ATP from one molecule of glucose, and cancer cells need more molecules of glucose in comparison with normal cells. Increased uptake of glucose by cancer cells is due to increased expression of glucose transporters. However, overexpression of glucose transporters, promoting the process of carcinogenesis, and increasing aggressiveness and invasiveness of tumors, may have also a beneficial effect. For example, upregulation of glucose transporters is used in diagnostic techniques such as FDG-PET. Therapeutic inhibition of glucose transporters may be a method of treatment of cancer patients. On the other hand, upregulation of glucose transporters, which are used in radioiodine therapy, can help patients with cancers. Abstract: Tumor growth causes cancer cells to become hypoxic. A hypoxic condition is a hallmark of cancer. Metabolism of cancer cells differs from metabolism of normal cells. Cancer cells prefer the process of glycolysis as a source of ATP. Process of glycolysis generates only two molecules of ATP per one molecule of glucose, whereas the complete oxidative breakdown of one molecule of glucose yields 36 molecules of ATP.