CLINICAL-APPLICATION OF SERUM LEVELS OF SIALIC-ACID, FUCOSE AND SEROMUCOID FRACTION AS TUMOR-MARKERS IN HUMAN LEUKEMIAS

To establish a blood-based biochemical profile for diagnosis and manag ement of human leukemias, serum total sialic acid/total protein, lipid bound sialic acid, fucose/total protein and seromucoid fraction (quan titated as its hexoses and protein contents) levels were measured by h ighly specific spectrophotometric methods. Compared to the controls (n = 150), all the biomarkers were significantly elevated in anemia pati ents (pathological controls, n = 77) and untreated leukaemia patients (n = 145). Furthermore, significantly raised levels of the markers wer e observed in untreated leukemia patients compared to anemia patients. Fucose/total protein was the most specific (71.0%) marker, while hexo se levels were the most sensisitive (93.0%) marker for leukemia. The l evels of the biomakers in patients with persistent leukemic activity/a ccelerated leukemic phase were significantly higher than those in pati ents in remission and were comparable with pretreatment levels. The st udy suggested that the markers evaluated are useful in diagnosis and t reatment monitoring of leukemia patients.