Alteration of gangliosides in plasma and red cells of humans bearing melanoma tumors

Detection of a Tumour-Associated Ganglioside in Plasma of Patients With Neuroblastoma

“…14 To date, however, direct thin-layer-chromatographic visualisation of gangliosides isolated and purified from the plasma of patients with cancer has not shown the presence of any ganglioside which was not also detected though perhaps in lower concentrations in the plasma of healthy normal donors. For example, levels of G M3 and G D3 , prominent constituent gangliosides of normal human plasma, were slightly raised in the plasma of patients with melanoma, 5 as were those of G M3 in plasma of patients with cerebral astrocytoma. 6 In contrast, our study shows that a particular ganglioside, a major ganglioside of neuroblastoma tumour tissue not detectable in normal human plasma samples by standard thin-layer-chromatographic methods, is present in high concentrations in the plasma of patients with this malignant disorder.…”

“…An association between abnormalities in circulating gangliosides and the presence of tumour is suggested by the knowledge that membrane-bound gangliosides are, among other molecules on the cell surface, released by proliferating cells. 1,2 Findings of high concentrations of gangliosides in the circulation of tumour-bearing hosts, [3][4][5][6][7] which fall towards normal on removal of tumour, 4,5 support this association, as does the indirect evidence that binding between a monoclonal antibody and a colon-carcinoma-associated ganglioside is inhibited by the serum of patients with this tumour. 14 To date, however, direct thin-layer-chromatographic visualisation of gangliosides isolated and purified from the plasma of patients with cancer has not shown the presence of any ganglioside which was not also detected though perhaps in lower concentrations in the plasma of healthy normal donors.…”

“…These membrane-bound glycolipids are released or shed in vitro by many cells, especially proliferating cells such as tumour cells. 1,2 It has been suggested that high concentrations of gangliosides, present in the circulation of tumour-bearing hosts, [3][4][5][6][7] may be tumour-related. 4 To date, however, there has been no report of direct visualisation and identification of a ganglioside in the plasma of patients with cancer that has not also been detected in normal plasma.…”

Mouse fibroblast (type I) and immune (type II) interferons: pronounced differences in affinity for gangliosides and in antiviral and antigrowth effects on mouse leukemia L-1210R cells.

“…First, it is known that cancer patients often have increased levels of circulating gangliosides, which might reflect increased concentrations of these glycolipids in the tumorsurrounding tissue (27,28). Therefore, treatment of such patients with type I interferon might not be effective because human leukocyte and fibroblast interferons also bind to gangliosides (12,13).…”

Monoclonal Antibodies for Diagnosis and Potential Therapy of Small Cell Lung Cancer—The Ganglioside Antigen Fucosyl-Gm1

“…They have also been shown to have immunosuppressive effects (25). Gangliosides shed from tumor cells were first described in mammary carcinomas by Kloppel et al (26) and were later observed in malignant melanoma (27). The expression of the ganglioside FucGM, in SCLC cell lines is highly heterogeneous.…”