Enzyme activities in human breast tumor cells and sera

Galactosyltransferase (GalTF), sialyltransferase (SiaTF), fucosyltransferase (FucTF), 5'-nucleotidase (5'Nucl), and ADP-ribosyltransferase (RibTF) were determined in three subcellular fractions of tumor cells and adjacent control tissue from 20 patients with small primary infiltrating ductal adenocarcinomas of the breast. Viable, as pure tumor cell populations as possible were isolated, subfractionated, and their enzyme levels compared to those in the patients' sera. The activities in tumor cells of the three glycosyltransferases were two- to seven-fold higher, whereas 5'-Nucl and RibTF showed reduced activities when compared to adjacent noninvolved tissue. Serum GalTF and SiaTF were slightly elevated in early mammary carcinoma, whereas FucTF, 5'Nucl, and RibTF were decreased in comparison with a control group. The proposed tumor origin of circulating enzymes could not be confirmed. Surprisingly, only for RibTF could a correlation between tumor and serum activity be established; a weak correlation was found for SiaTF. However, no such relationship could be determined for GalTF, FucTF, or 5'Nucl. In conclusion, the enzyme profile of the tumor cell does not, except for RibTF, appear in the serum. Serum enzyme profiles, therefore, do not permit detection of the early stages of breast cancer. A high correlation between RibTF activity and cytosol estrogen and progesterone receptor levels has been determined in tumor cells, possibly indicating slower growing, more differentiated types of breast tumors.