[Glycosaminoglycans in human normal lung tissues and lung cancer tissues]

The quantitative changes of glycosaminoglycans in tumor tissue of human lung cancers (6 squamous cell carcinomas, 7 small cell carcinomas and 10 adenocarcinomas) were studied. Normal lung tissues contained of 3.38 mumol uronic acid/g dry weight glycosaminoglycans which consisted of hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfates, dermatan sulfate and heparan sulfate. The total amount of glycosaminoglycans in human lung cancer tissues increased 1.7 to 3.5 times in comparison with that in normal lung tissues. The increase in tissue content of glycosaminoglycans was accompanied by an increase in the chondroitin sulfate level in every histologic type of lung cancer, as well as marked increase in hyaluronic acid level in squamous cell carcinomas, and a moderate increase in small cell carcinomas. The concentrations of dermatan sulfate and heparan sulfate in lung cancer tissues did not show any significant changes compared with those in normal lung tissues. The increase in total amount and changes in the composition of glycosaminoglycans in human lung cancer tissue were closely related to the histologic type of the tumor. In adenocarcinomas, some acid glycoprotein with sialic acid was simultaneously detected during the separating course of glycosaminoglycans, which was considered to be derived from mucinous substances related to adenocarcinoma cells.