Detection of cancer cervix by estimation of sialic acid

The study was undertaken to determine the sialic acid concentration of cervical tissue and serum of women with healthy and unhealthy cervix. The sialic acid value in local tissue of cervix and in serum showed slight elevation in benign inflammatory lesions, moderate elevation was found in severe dysplasia and preinvasive carcinoma and marked elevation in invasive carcinoma cervix. The values, both in the serum and in the cervical tissue, increased gradually with the advancement of grading of frank malignancy. The elevation of sialic acid in the serum was slow to start with but persisted for a longer period, wereas the concentration in local tissue was found to be increasing with the pathological process.