Neoplasma Vol.69, No.3, p.630–639, 2022

Glucose and glutamine metabolism is involved in important tumor mechanisms. Metabolism-related protein expression has been previously reported to predict tumor prognosis. We aimed to investigate glucose and glutamine metabolism-related protein expression and its implication in breast ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). A tissue microarray was prepared for 205 DCIS cases. Glucose and glutamine metabolism-related proteins were immunostained. Based on the results of estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER)-2, and Ki-67, DCIS was classified into the luminal type, HER-2 type, and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). DCIS stroma was classified into non-inflammatory and inflammatory types per stromal histology. DCIS (n = 205) were classified into luminal type (n = 112), HER-2 type (n = 81), and TNBC (n = 12). Hexokinase II (p = 0.044), GLS (p = 0.003), and SLC7A5 (p <0.001) expression rates were the highest in TNBC. Inflammatory type stroma showed higher SLC7A5 (p <0.001) and SLC7A11 (p=0.008) expression rates than non-inflammatory type stroma.

In summary, DCIS demonstrated differential expression of metabolism-related proteins according to the molecular subtype and stromal features. TNBC showed the highest glucose and glutamine metabolism-related protein expression, and inflammatory type stroma showed higher glutamine metabolism-related protein expression than non-inflammatory type stroma.