Lipid-associated sialoprotein in the cerebrospinal fluid: association with brain malignancies.
BACKGROUND
Changes in the glycosylation process by tumor cells result in larger amounts of sialoproteins on their surface compared with normal cells. Sialoproteins then are released into the surrounding environment primarily by shedding or cell lysis. In the current study, the authors attempted to evaluate whether lipid-associated sialoprotein (LSP) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) can distinguish patients with primary and metastatic brain tumors from those without brain tumors as well as determine response to treatment.


METHODS
CSF samples were obtained from a tissue bank. The concentration of LSP was determined after chloroform:methanol extraction followed by protein precipitation. One-way analysis of variance and Scheffe pairwise comparisons were used for statistical analysis.


RESULTS
The CSF of neurologically normal controls, patients with a normal leukocyte count (< or = 5/microl), and patients with various neurologic disorders or systemic tumors without central nervous system (CNS) malignancies contained similar levels of LSP. The CSF from patients with a normal leukocyte count and newly diagnosed primary or metastatic brain tumors contained on average 3.7-fold higher levels of LSP compared with CSF from patients without CNS tumors (P = 0.0001). The CSF from patients with brain tumors with progressive disease not responding to treatment contained high levels of LSP comparable to the levels found in newly diagnosed patients. The CSF from treatment-responsive patients contained decreased levels of LSP similar to that found in control patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The LSP in CSF may be a useful marker with which to determine the presence of intracranial malignancies and assess response to treatment.
Katopodis
N
N
Oncomedics Inc., Singer Island, Florida, USA.
Glantz
M J
MJ
Kim
L
L
Dafni
U
U
Wu
J K
JK
Perides
G
G
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary; D016543:Central Nervous System Neoplasms / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019158:N-Acetylneuraminic Acid / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D008055:Lipids; C054080:lipid-associated sialic acid; D019158:N-Acetylneuraminic Acid