3.2 Glycomics research and tumor markers
The serum N-and O-glycan profiles of patients with different types of
non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) at different stages and healthy
controls were measured by lectin microarray analysis[61]. To compare
the changes of serum glycosylation in patients with non-small cell lung
cancer and the control group, and to evaluate the stage-related changes
of serum glycosylation. The results showed that compared with the
control group, 18 lectins in the lung adenocarcinoma group could
significantly change the serum glucose type. Among them, 16 lectins
showed significant serum glycoform changes in the squamous cell
carcinoma (SCC) group.
Although fucosylation is essential for normal biological functions,
changes in fucosylation are closely related to the development and
progression of tumors[62]. The core fucosylation serum level of
stage I/II adenocarcinoma is significantly increased, so core
fucosylation may be a potential diagnostic biomarker for early detection
of lung adenocarcinoma[63]. It can be further inferred that other
lectins that cause significant changes in serum glycotypes can also be
used to diagnose different types and stages of non-small cell lung
cancer and serve as a standard for the diagnosis of such diseases[64,
65].