Serum gangliosides in patients with brain tumors

In order to determine possible differences in serum gangliosides content and composition before and after surgical removal of tumor, gangliosides isolated from preoperative and postoperative sera of patients with brain tumors were analyzed. Serum samples were collected from patients with glioblastoma, meningioma, acoustic neurinoma, haemangioma, oligodendroglioma and astrocytoma, one week before and one week after surgical removal of the tumor. Serum gangliosides were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed by high performance thin layer chromatography and laser densitometry. Results showed changes of total gangliosides concentrations in analyzed postoperative sera comparing to preoperative sera. There was not a significant difference in ganglioside pattern of preoperative vs. preoperative sera. However, a postoperative decreased proportion of ganglioside GD3 was observed in sera derived from patients with complete tumor removal. The results of this study indicate that comparative quantitative and compositional analysis of both preoperative and postoperative serum gangliosides may provide useful information concerning tumor progression, surgical success and prognosis.