GLUT1/3/4 as novel biomarkers for the prognosis of human breast cancer

Breast cancer (BC) remains a significant health threat for women despite extensive research and progress in understanding its mechanisms. BC ranks first in incidence and fatality rates among all cancer types in women (1), with 1.7 million new cases diagnosed per year worldwide (2,3). The BC incidence rate increased slightly by 0.3% per year (4). The incidence of BC is higher along with poorer outcomes in developing countries, and the incidence is expected to increase by 55% with a 58% increase in mortality in the next 20 years (5). Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify more reliable prognostic biomarkers and potential drug targets to improve personalized treatments and the prognosis prediction of BC patients. The metabolic characteristics of tumor cells are distinct from those of normal cells, with tumor cells exhibiting continuous glucose uptake and aerobic glycolysis, i.e., the Warburg effect (6). Glucose transporters (GLUTs) are the most critical rate-limiting enzymes in aerobic glycolysis; Original Article