Carbohydrates may be used as a new cancer biomarker.

Numerous studies comparing normal and tumor cells have shown that changes in complex carbohydrates, also know as glycans, on the cell correlate with cancer development. Compared to molecular proteins, molecular glycans are extremely abundant, and recent advances in technology have allowed the effective systematic study of the structures.

Like genes and proteins, complex carbohydrates may be altered as cancer develops. A new $15.6 million, five-year initiative will focus on the important, understudied class of molecules.

One of the most promising cancer biomarkers in development today is a glycoprotein known as GP73, a marker for liver cancer. GP73 is expected to be validated through the National Cancer Institute's Early Detection Research network in the coming months. Because glycans are more complex than DNA or proteins, efforts to study the molecules on a large scale have been slowed. But recent advances in technologies such as the development of glycan arrays have made the initiative feasible.

Information about glycans could improve the utility of protein-based biomarkers in use today, including prostate-specific antigen for prostate cancer and CA-125 for ovarian cancer. According to researchers, both proteins have glycan components, and analyzing their molecular features together may yield useful information for physicians and patients.

National Cancer Institute. (2007). Testing carbohydrates as cancer biomarkers. Retrieved November 5, 2007, from http: //www.cancer.gov/ncicancerbulletin/NCI_Cancer_Bulletin_082107/page6

Deborah McBride, RN, MSN, CPON[R], Contributing Editor

Contributing Editor Deborah McBride, RN, MSN, CPON[R], is a nurse at the Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center and a faculty member at Samuel Merritt College in Oakland, CA.