N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferase V as a possible aid for the evaluation of tumor invasiveness in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Background: A close relationship has been shown to exist between the metastatic potential and beta1-6 branched oligosaccharides in human and rodent cells. N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase V (GnT-V) catalyzes this process. Although this phenomenon has been reported, little is known about the clinical usefulness of the determination of GnT-V in the evaluations of tumor invasiveness in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study, we measured the GnT-V activity in serum of patients with HCC, together with its activity and gene expression in HCC tissues, and elucidated the clinical usefulness of the GnT-V level in evaluating tumor invasiveness. Methods: Seventy-three serum samples from 38 patients with HCC, 11 with chronic hepatitis, eight with hepatic cirrhosis and 16 healthy controls were used. Twenty-one liver tissues were obtained by surgical resection from 17 patients with HCC, three with colorectal cancers and one with gallbladder cancer metastatic to the liver. The GnT-V activity was determined by using high performance liquid chromatography. The GnT-V mRNA was quantified by using competitive RT-PCR. Results: There were statistically significant correlations between GnT-V activity in sera of HCC, and GnT-V activity and GnT-V mRNA expression in tumor tissue. The mean GnT-V activity in the sera of patients with HCC increased in accordance with the degree of tumor invasion. The HCC group with intrahepatic and extrahepatic metastases showed the highest serum GnT-V-value. Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that there was a close association between tumor invasiveness and GnT-V activity in sera, and that the measurement of GnT-V may improve prognostic estimates and therapeutic outcomes for patients with HCC. (C) 2001 Blackwell Science Asia Pty Ltd.