Prognostic role of serum sialyl Lewisx (CD15s) in colorectal cancer

Oncology. 2003;65(1):52-9. doi: 10.1159/000071205.

Abstract

Objective: Sialyl Lewis(x) (sLe(x)) is one ligand for E selectin (CD62E), a glycoprotein that is expressed on activated endothelial cells. Adhesion mediated by endothelial E selectin and sLe(x) expressed on human tumor cells could be relevant for the development of metastases. The aim of this study was to investigate whether or not a correlation exists between pre-operative levels of ganglioside serum sLe(x) and disease-free interval and survival in colorectal cancer patients.

Patients and methods: Thirty Duke's B and 52 Duke's C patients undergoing resection for colorectal cancer were studied. The median follow-up time was 34.8 months. A pool of 57 sera from normal subjects was used as an Internal Normal Standard (INS). sLe(x) analyses were performed by a thin layer chromatography (TLC) immunostaining technique. Results were expressed as the ratio (R) between bands of INS and bands from each neoplastic serum.

Results: The median R value was 0.80 in normal subjects, 0.70 in Duke's B patients and 1.0 in Duke's C patients. No significant differences were detected between sLe(x) concentrations in sera from normal and neoplastic subjects (p = 0.1). Using an arbitrary cutoff of R = 0.9, the mean disease-free interval in the whole series was 47.4 months for R <0.9 and 126.0 months for R > or = 0.9 (p = 0.04). The survival time was 76.8 months for patients with R values <0.9 and 156.3 months for patients with R values > or =0.9 (p = 0.1).

Conclusions: High serum levels of ganglioside sLe(x) significantly correlate with a favorable prognosis and with a lower occurrence of metastases. It is conceivable that soluble sLe(x) may compete with membrane-bound sLe(x) in the course of interactions between activated endothelium and tumor cells that have reached the circulation.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / blood*
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Chromatography, Thin Layer
  • Colorectal Neoplasms / blood
  • Colorectal Neoplasms / mortality*
  • Colorectal Neoplasms / pathology
  • Colorectal Neoplasms / surgery
  • Disease-Free Survival
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Italy
  • Lewis X Antigen / blood*
  • Male
  • Neoplasm Metastasis
  • Oligosaccharides / blood*
  • Prognosis
  • Sialyl Lewis X Antigen
  • Survival Analysis

Substances

  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • Lewis X Antigen
  • Oligosaccharides
  • Sialyl Lewis X Antigen