Increased 18F-FDG uptake and expression of Glut1 in the EMT transformed breast cancer cells induced by TGF-beta.

As carcinomas progress, the tumors may lose epithelial morphology and acquire mesenchymal characteristics typically called epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which is commonly associated with increased cell migration, enables cells to dissociate from their original tissue and form metastasis in distant organs. In addition to molecular and morphologic changes, the EMT transformed cells also showed the change of sensitivity to chemotherapeutics. In order to detect the EMT transition in vivo clinically, we detected the change of metabolism of MCF-7 cells after being induced by TGF-beta to form EMT condition by MTT and 18F-FDG uptake.