title: Elevation of ratio of urinary N-acetylneuraminlactose to free sialic acid in some advanced cancer patients.
abstract: We estimated the levels of free sialic acid and sialylated oligosaccharides excreted in the urine of normal donors (n = 10) and patients with gastric cancer (n = 6) and colorectal cancer (n = 4). The total sialic acid level in cancer patients was similar to that in normal donors. However, the ratios of glycosidically bound sialic acids to free sialic acid were higher in some advanced cancer patients than in the normal donors. A major component of sialylated oligosaccharides was N-acetylneuraminyl alpha (2-->3) lactose. The elevation of the urinary ratio of this sialylated oligosaccharide to free sialic acid observed in some advanced cancer patients in this study may reflect the elevation of sialyltransferase activity in tumor tissues.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Japan.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shoji
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Futatsuya
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Katoh
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kominato
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujikura
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007785:Lactose / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000652:urine; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019158:N-Acetylneuraminic Acid; D012794:Sialic Acids / Q000652:urine*; D012799:Sialyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology / Q000652:urine*
chemical_list: D012794:Sialic Acids; C000020:N-acetylneuraminoyllactose; D012799:Sialyltransferases; D019158:N-Acetylneuraminic Acid; D007785:Lactose