Expression of Lewis^a, Lewis^b, and sialated Lewis^a antigens in early and advanced human gastric cancers

Abstract

An immunohistochemical analysis of the expression of Lewis(a), Lewis(b), and sialated Lewis(a) blood group antigens was performed on specimens of human non-involved stomach (n = 91), early gastric cancers (n = 41), and advanced gastric cancers (n = 50). In non-involved stomach, Lewis(a) and Lewis(b) were detected mainly in surface epithelium, although sialated Lewis(a) was scarcely expressed. These blood group-related antigens were rarely observed in deep glands. In gastric cancers, Lewis(a) showed a tendency to be expressed in well or moderately differentiated carcinomas, and this was observed to be more marked in advanced tumors. There was no obvious difference in positive ratios of Lewis(b) between degrees of differentiation of the cancers. Sialated Lewis(a) was not detected in early cancers, and its frequent expression in well- or moderately differentiated, advanced carcinomas suggested an association with both cancer differentiation and progression. These results indicate that knowledge of the expression of blood group antigens may help interpret the antigenic alterations occurring in the course of carcinogenesis, differentiation, and progression of gastric cancers.

Monoclonal Antibodies Targeting LecLex-Related Glycans with Potent Antitumor Activity

“…Lewis (Le) carbohydrate antigens are formed by the sequential addition of fucose onto oligosaccharide precursor chains on glycoproteins and glycolipids through the concerted action of a set of glycosyltransferases (7) (8)(9)(10). In addition, Le a and Le b antigen frequently coexist in human tumor cells (11).…”

“…In addition, Le a and Le b antigen frequently coexist in human tumor cells (11). Dimeric Le a and Le x have also been identified as tumor-associated antigens in breast and gastrointestinal carcinomas (9,10,12).…”

Inhibition of Xenograft Tumor Growth and Down-Regulation of ErbB Receptors by an Antibody Directed against Lewis Y Antigen

“…Expression on normal tissue is limited to epithelial surfaces and activated granulocytes (Dettke et al, 2001). In contrast, LeY was found to be present on up to 70 to 90% adenocarcinomas of the lung, breast, colorectal, gastric, pancreatic, prostate, and ovarian cancers (Sakamoto et al, 1986;Inagaki et al, 1990;Steplewski et al, 1990;Murata et al, 1992). Furthermore, the levels of Lewis Y expression have been shown to correlate with survival in patients with lung carcinoma (Miyake et al, 1992).…”

Safety and Therapeutic Efficacy of the Lewis Y Carbohydrate Specific Humanized Antibody MB311 in Patients with Malignant Effusion

“…The LeY carbohydrate antigen (CD174) is expressed on the majority of human cancers of epithelial origin whereas expression on normal tissue is limited to epithelial cells of the esophagus, stomach, the proximal small intestine, some acinar cells of the pancreas and resting granulocytes [1][2][3][4][5]. Regarding tumor cells, predominantly adenocarcinomas of the lung, breast, colorectal, gastric, pancreatic, prostate and ovarian cancers have been tested positive for LeY [2,[6][7][8][9]. Pronounced expression of LeY in different tumors is associated with decreased survival and higher metastatic potential [10][11][12][13][14].…”