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Our results demonstrate the significant clinical usefulness of telomerase activation and telomere length for head and neck cancer patients. These markers may be helpful in predicting the clinical course of the disease and thus in identifying the patients in need of a close follow-up and vigorous adjuvant treatment.

Sialic acid, the end moieties of the carbohydrate chains are biologically important and essential for functions of glycoconjugates and are reported to be altered in cancer patients. Two hundred and twenty five breast cancer (BC) patients, 100 patients with benign breast disease (BBD) and 100 healthy females (controls) were enrolled for the study. Eight hundred and twenty four f011ow-up samples of 225 breast carcinoma patients were also evaluated. The association of static acid forms, sialyltransferase and ~-2-6 sialoproteins levels with presence and extent as well as prognosis of breast carcinoma was studie~. Serum sialic acid forms and sialyltransferase revealed significantly elevated levels among untreated breast cancer patients as compared to the controls, patients with BBD as well as cancer patients in remission. Non-responders showed comparable levels of the markers with those found in breast cancer patients at the time of diagnosis. Higher levels of sialic acid forms at diagnosis were associated with poor prognosis. A positive correlation between serum levels of different forms of sialic acids and extent of malignant disease was observed. The changes in serum proteins with terminal a-2-6 sialic acid correlated well with alterations in the levels of sialic acid forms and sialyltransferase. Malignant tissues showed elevated levels of sialic acid and sialyltransferase as compared to surrounding normal tissues.The results suggested potential utility of these markers in evaluation of clinical outcome.

A glucose dehydrogenase (GDH) that is induced 5‐fold by phosphate starvation, has been characterized from a bacterium isolated from alkaline Indian vertisol soils. The bacterium was identified as Enterobacter asburiae based on 16S rRNA analysis. Concomitant with GDH induction, glucose was oxidized and secreted as gluconate (50 mM). Excretion of this acid caused a reduction in soil pH and the release of phosphate and iron. Mutants deficient in GDH activity failed to release phosphate from alkaline soils indicating that GDH activity is required to solubilize phosphate.

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