THE GANGLIOSIDE GM(3) IS RAISED IN THE SERA AND TISSUE OF PATIENTS WITH BLADDER-TUMORS

An extraction procedure was developed which allowed the quantification of gangliosides from small volumes of sera (0.5 cm(3)) and samples of tissue (10 mg wet weight) from subjects with bladder cancer and from controls. The gangliosides were identified by high performance thin la yer chromatography and mass spectrometry. In all samples the major gan glioside was GM(3) and amounts were elevated in both tissue and sera d erived from tumour patients. The total lipid-bound sialic acid was gre ater in tumour tissue than in healthy bladder but was below the level of detection in all sera. We suggest that serum GM(3) may be of progno stic value in bladder cancer.