Serum N-glycome alterations in breast cancer during multimodal treatment and follow-up

Using our recently developed high-throughput automated platform, N-glycans from all serum glycoproteins from patients with breast cancer were analysed at diagnosis, after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy and up to 3 years after surgery. Surprisingly, alterations in the serum N-glycome after chemotherapy were pro-inflammatory with an increase in glycan structures associated with cancer. Surgery, on the other hand, induced anti-inflammatory changes in the serum N-glycome, towards a noncancerous phenotype. At the time of first follow-up, glycosylation in patients with affected lymph nodes changed towards a malignant phenotype. C-reactive protein showed a different pattern, increasing after first line of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, then decreasing throughout treatment until 1 year after surgery. This may reflect a switch from acute to chronic inflammation, where chronic inflammation is reflected in the serum after the acute phase response subsides. In conclusion, we here present the first time-course serum N-glycome profiling of patients with breast cancer during and after treatment. We identify significant glycosylation changes with chemotherapy, surgery and follow-up, reflecting the host response to therapy and tumour removal.