Assessment of Tumor Metastasis by the Direct Determination of Cell-Membrane Sialic Acid Expression

摘要

Sialic acid (SA) is an anionic monosaccharide that frequently occurs at the termini of glycan chains and provides many opportunities for the assessment of both normal and pathological cell processes. It is generally present in tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens, including those clinically approved as tumor markers. Accordingly, the overexpression of SA on cell membranes has been implicated in the malignant and metastatic phenotypes of various types of cancer.