title: Genetic and enzymatic evidence for Lewis enzyme expression in Lewis-negative cancer patients.
abstract: It has been observed that the frequency of individuals with Lewis-negative erythrocytes is significantly higher in cancer patients than in healthy controls. In this study, 20 of the 66 (30.3%) patients with various cancers were typed as Lewis negative from their erythrocytes, while the same frequency in healthy controls was 11.1%. These 20 patients were divided into three groups based on the presence of Lewis blood group antigens and alpha 1-->4-fucosyltransferase in their salivas: group I, 6 patients who had both Lewis antigens and alpha 1-->4-fucosyltransferase activity; group II, 8 patients who had no Lewis antigens but possessed alpha 1-->4-fucosyltransferase activity; group III, 6 patients who had neither Lewis antigens nor alpha 1-->4-fucosyltransferase activity. The genotyping of Le genes by the PCR-RFLP methods, which have been developed and established by us recently, demonstrated that all 14 patients from groups I and II possess Le gene homozygously (Le/Le) or heterozygously (Le/le), whereas all 6 patients from group III were le/le homozygotes. Only the 6 patients from group III were identified as the genuine Lewis-negative individuals. The immunohistochemical staining of the colorectal tumors also showed that the Lewis antigens could be detected on the tumors from groups I and II but not from group III.
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, School of Medicine, Gunma University, Maebashi, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yazawa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nishihara
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iwasaki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Asao
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nagamachi
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Matta
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Narimatsu
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood*; D005647:Fucosyltransferases / Q000032:analysis*; D005770:Gastrointestinal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007983:Lewis Blood Group Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010641:Phenotype; D012463:Saliva / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D007983:Lewis Blood Group Antigens; D005647:Fucosyltransferases; C019818:3-galactosyl-N-acetylglucosaminide 4-alpha-L-fucosyltransferase