CIRCULATING GANGLIOSIDES OF BREAST-CANCER PATIENTS

Gangliosides were isolated from the sera of recently diagnosed breast- cancer patients and from individuals who were apparently free of disea se. Quantificative and qualitative analyses were carried out by 2-dime nsional high-performance thin-layer chromatography and gas chromatogra phy. The locations of isolated gangliosides on thin-layer chromatogram s were determined by visualization with resorcinol, and each spot was quantified by digital image densitometry. The ganglioside profiles of cancer patients were compared to those of the control group, revealing a significant increase in total lipid-bound sialic acid and a specifi c increase in polysialogangliosides in the patients with breast cancer . Furthermore, an increase was noted in the ratio of gangliosides of t he b-series biosynthetic pathway over those of the a-series in the can cer sera, as compared to the controls. Gas chromatographic analysis of the peracetylated methanolysis mixtures derived from the total gangli oside fraction of cancer patients supported the HPTLC data, with an in crease in total sialic acid, galactose, and sphingosine residues. No u nusual gangliosides were found in the mixture from breast-cancer patie nts. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.