PROGNOSTIC RELEVANCE OF DETECTION OF LIGANDS FOR VERTEBRATE GALECTINSAND A LEWIS(Y)-SPECIFIC MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODY - A PROSPECTIVE-STUDY OF BRONCHIAL-CARCINOMA PATIENTS TREATED SURGICALLY

Tissue sections taken from 157 potentially curatively operated lung ca rcinoma patients (70 epidermoid carcinomas, 68 adenocarcinomas, 15 lar ge cell anaplastic, and 4 small cell anaplastic carcinomas) were exami ned by a standardized histochemical protocol in a prospective study ev aluating the extent of various types of probes to serve as prognostic indicators in lung cancer. Detailed clinical records and survival data (minimum 56 weeks, maximum 96 weeks) were correlated to the results o f the histochemical reactions. The study centres on monitoring the exp ression of galactoside-containing epitopes in tumor cells by human, an imal and plant lectins: and with a monoclonal antibody. In addition, a ffinity-purified subfractions of natural antibodies from human serum w ith preferential affinity to alpha- and beta-galactosides, respectivel y, were employed. Significant contributions to the estimation of the s urvival of patients are given by clinical parameters (pT, pN stage), n umber of resected and positive lymph nodes and presence of tumor metas tases into specific lymph nodes (No. 5 and No. 6 right and left). With respect to the relevance of subsets of beta-galactosides, the galecti n from chicken liver (CL-16) and the Le(y)-specific monoclonal antibod y unveiled a negative correlation at a statistically significant level . The predictive value of binding of the animal lectin CL-16 was espec ially pronounced for patients with advanced tumor stages, pointing to a potential role of such lectin-reactive beta-galactosides in late tum or stages or progression.