Human serum acid alpha-1-glycoprotein (AGP, orosomucoid) content of healthy individuals and cancer patients was measured, isolated and purified using a protocol of fast and biocompatible sample preparation, ion exchange and dye-ligand affinity chromatographic methods. In comparison to the healthy individuals significantly higher serum AGP levels were found in a wide spectrum of cancer patients, indicating its diagnostic value in the malignant disease. Oligosaccharide content of AGP samples was separated following PNGase F enzyme digestion and analysed by RP-HPLC and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. RP-HPLC and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometric analysis of sugar constituents of AGP specimen originated from selected cancer patients with high serum AGP levels indicated the appearance of anomal distribution of bi-, tri- and tetra-antennary oligosaccharide structures compared to the healthy controls.
According to the high marker level in lung and liver metastases, the marker might be useful in monitoring both patients with disease free ocular melanomas, to detect liver metastasis and high-risk patients after surgical removal of the primary tumour to reveal lung metastases.
Serum S-100 protein is widely used as a marker of melanoma and since 5-S-cysteinyldopa (5-S-CD) is a precursor of melanin its serum and urinary levels can reflect melanoma progression. In this study we examined the concentration changes of serum S-100 protein and 5-S-CD in 252 melanoma patients of different clinical stages. Serum samples were taken from 252 melanoma patients at 860 times, from June 1996 to July 1998. The serum S-100 protein was measured by the immunoluminometric assay, levels of 5-S-CD was determined by HPLC. The value of S-100 protein in patients with primary melanoma (0.11m mg/l) and in patients without symptoms (0.15 m mg/l) ranged around the normal level (0.01 0.12 m mg/l). There was a significant difference between the values of patients with or without symptoms. There was a similarly significant difference between the S-100 values of clinical Stage I (0.11 mg/l) and Stage III (2.91 mg/l) as well as between those of clinical Stage II (0.47 mg/l) and Stage III (2.91 mg/l), respectively. Analyzing the values of patients with symptoms we observed significant difference between the S-100 protein values of patients with primary tumor and those with solitary or multiple distant metastases. In case of 5-S-CD significant difference was found between clinical Stage I and III as well as clinical Stage II and III. Furthermore, there was a significant difference between the mean marker values of patients with primary tumor, lymph node, lung metastasis and clinical stage III.
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