[The determination of sialic acid in cancer patients]

The availability of a new rapid and reproducible laboratory test led to an easy dosage of sialic acid (AS) serum levels in neoplastic patients. This substance, involved in tumoral transformation and metastatic spread, has been evaluated in 278 neoplastic patients: 183 patients were affected by lymphoma (96 NHL and 87 HD), 60 by breast cancer and 35 by lung cancer. All groups of patients considered showed mean values of AS higher than healthy controls and the positive percentages, compared with cut-off levels, were respectively: NHL 71%, HD 70%, breast cancer 38%, lung cancer 89%. Even if the low specificity of this marker limits its clinical validity, AS, that seems related to clinical course of disease, could be useful in the monitoring of many neoplasms.