[Biological malignant potential and carbohydrate antigens in breast cancer]

We investigated the association of expression of carbohydrate antigens with the degree of malignancy in breast cancer. When this expression was compared in the cancerous portion and adjacent non-cancerous portion in each of the patients, increased expression of type2 carbohydrate antigens were found in cancerous portions. The prognosis of patients in whom type2 carbohydrate antigens were increased in the cancerous portion was significantly poorer than in patients in whom they were not increased. The experimental studies, using cell lines derived from human breast cancer, resulted that the adhesion of cancer cells to vascular endothelial cells was mediated by sialyl Lewis(x) via E-selectin. Moreover, it was suggested that there were the induction of E-selectin expression on the endothelial cells by cancer cells and secondary adhesional system following the initial adhesion mediated by E-selectin and carbohydrate ligands. Consequently, it appears that the role that carbohydrates play in metastasis as cell adhesion molecules, is the underlying the relationship between the expression of carbohydrates and the prognosis of patients with breast cancer.