Serum UDP‐galactosyl transferase as a potential biomarker for breast carcinoma

Abstract

UDP-galactose:N-acetylglucosamine galactosyltransferase (GT) is a membrane-bound enzyme active in the biosynthesis of the carbohydrate moiety of glycoproteins and glycolipids. A soluble form of GT, present in human serum, has recently been found to be elevated in the presence of various neoplasms. In this study, GT levels were measured in randomized serum samples obtained from normal controls (group I, n = 49), patients with benign breast disease (group II, n = 46), disease controls (group III, n = 50), patients with primary breast carcinoma (group IV, n = 53), and untreated metastatic breast cancer (group V, n = 23). Although substantial serum GT elevations were observed in individual control patients with active inflammatory or metabolic diseases, the mean GT levels were significantly higher in the groups with breast carcinoma (P < 0.001, 0.001, 0.02; P < 0.001, 0.001, 0.001 for groups IV and V vs groups, 1, II, and III, respectively). Furthermore, when serum GT levels were correlated with the properative clinical stage of breast cancer, significant elevations were found in 14.3% (3/21) of stage I, 66.7% (8/12) of stage II, 78.6% (11/14) of stage III, and 96.5% (28/29) of stage IV patients. These data indicate that serum GT levels are elevated in the presence of breast carcinoma and that the enzyme elevations correlate positively with the clinical stage of disease. Serum GT may be potentially useful in the detection of recurrent breast carcinoma and as a marker of tumor response to therapy for advanced disease.

Serum galactosyltransferase isoenzyme patterns of cancer patients with liver involvement

“…We have shown that those patients with metastasis have higher pretreatment levels of serum galactosyltransferase than patients with localised tumours. This is similar to the reports of Paone et al (1980) and Ip and Dao (1978) for patients with breast cancer but differs from the findings of Capel et al (1982), who showed that although the serum level of galactosyltransferase of patients with metastasis was generally higher than in those with localised prostatic, breast, lung or gastrointestinal tumours, the difference between the two groups was not significant.…”

“…The tumour marker potential of galactosyltransferase has been the subject of many reports (Weiser & Wilson, 1981) and it is now well established that the serum level of this enzyme is often elevated in patients with solid tumours (Kim et al, 1972;Capel et al, 1982;Motoki et al, 1981;Chatterjee et al, 1979;Paone et al, 1980). Using high resolution agarose isoelectricfocusing (Davey et al, 1983) to separate serum galactosyltransferase, we showed that 30 of 38 (79%) patients with solid tumours had quantitative alterations in their galactosyltransferase activity profiles, even though only 26% had elevated serum levels (Davey et al, 1984).…”

Biochemical biomarkers in environmental studies—lessons learnt from enzymes catalase, glutathione S-transferase and cholinesterase in two crustacean species

“…Although encompassing both wholeorganism and sublethal responses, the term 'biomarker' refers most commonly to the latter. The biomarker concept was initially applied in medical diagnostics as an indicator of a particular state or disease in humans (Paone et al 1980), and in the early 1990s, it became very appealing in environmental studies (McCarthy and Shugart 1990;Walker 1992;Depledge and Fossi 1994;Peakall 1994). Between 1990 and 2007, the total number of scientific publications concerning biomarkers has increased by a factor of 200 and currently approaches 3,000 publications annually (see Fig.…”

Epigenetic Alterations in Colorectal Cancer: Emerging Biomarkers

“…The term “biomarker” or “biological marker” 80 was defined in 1998 by The National Institutes of Health Biomarkers Definition Working Group as “ a characteristic that is objectively measured and evaluated as an indicator of normal biological and pathological processes, or pharmacologic responses to a therapeutic intervention ” 81 . However, the definition of biomarker remains dynamic, and is constantly under revision in response to our evolving understanding of cancer.…”