Diagnosis of premalignant or malignant conditions of human secretory epithelia

摘要

A method for diagnostic or prognostic monitoring of premalignant or malignant conditions of human secretory epithelia, particularly colonic epithelia, by determining the extent of expression of a &bgr;1-3N- acetylglucosaminyltransferase is described. Associated with the expression of a wide variety of carbohydrate antigens in adenocarcinomas is the induction of &bgr;1-3N- acetylglucosaminyltransferase in epithelial cells. This enzyme is not found in normal, healthy adult colonic epithelial cells and thus indicates a novel and potentially sensitive method for screening the disease status of individuals.