Abstract
Changes in protein glycosylation of tumour cells, as detected by lectin histochemistry, have been associated with metastasis formation in several human malignancies. This study analysed the association between lectin binding and metastasis in cutaneous malignant melanoma. In a 10-year retrospective study, sections of 100 primary cutaneous malignant melanomas were histochemically stained for the following 5 lectins: HPA, SNA-I, MAA, WGA and PHA-L, differing in their carbohydrate specificity. Since differences in the results of HPA binding depending on methodology have been reported, an indirect and a biotinylated method were employed for HPA. Kaplan–Meier analysis of time to first metastasis revealed a positive correlation between HPA binding and metastasis for both methods, with the biotinylated HPA method (P< 0.0001) being superior to the ‘indirect’ method (P = 0.0006). Cox regression analysis demonstrated that even after adjustment for stage, HPA positivity is an independent predictor for metastasis. The results of the present study indicate that N -acetyl-galactosamine/-glucosamine residues, recognized by HPA, are linked to metastasis in malignant melanoma. In contrast, β1-6 branched oligosaccharides or sialic acid residues, both of which were correlated with metastasis in other malignancies, are of no functional importance for metastasis formation in malignant melanoma. Thus, HPA proved to be a useful and independent prognostic marker for the metastatic phenotype of melanoma. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
Change history
16 November 2011
This paper was modified 12 months after initial publication to switch to Creative Commons licence terms, as noted at publication
References
Brooks SA, Lymboura M, Schumacher U and Leathem AJ (1996) Histochemistry to detect Helix pomatia lectin binding in breast cancer: methodology makes a difference. J Histochem Cytochem 44: 519–524
Cochran AJ, Wen DR, Berthier-Vergnes O, Bailly C, Dore JF, Berard F, Moulin G and Thomas L (1999) Cytoplasmic accumulation of peanut agglutinin-binding glycoconjugates in the cells of primary melanoma correlates with clinical outcome. Hum Pathol 30: 556–561
Doré JF, Maisonneuve P, Cattaruzza MS, Autier P, Cochran AJ and Boyle P (1997) A molecular epidemiological approach to the study of expression of a metastasis marker in primary melanomas and ist correlation with individual patient’s risk of recurrence or metastasis. Melanoma Res 7: 121–125
Engers R and Gabbert HE (1998) Basic mechanisms of metastasizing. Fundamental of tumor biology and clinical implications. Onkologe 4: 682–688
Fenlon S, Ellis IO, Bell J, Todd JH, Elston CW and Blamey RW (1987) Helix pomatia and Ulex europaeus lectin binding in human breast carcinoma. J Pathol 152: 169–176
Fernandes B, Sagman U, Auger M, Demitrio M and Dennis JW (1991) β1-6 branched oligosaccharides as a marker of tumor progression in human breast and colon neoplasia. Cancer Res 51: 718–723
Galea MH, Ellis IO, Bell J, Elston CW and Blamey RW (1991) Prediction of lymph node involvement in breast cancer. Lancet 338: 392–393
Gusterson BA, and the International (Ludwig) Breast Cancer Study Group (1993) Prognostic value of Helix pomatia in breast cancer. Br J Cancer 68: 146–150
Hart IR and Saini A (1992) Biology of tumour metastasis. Lancet 339: 1453–1461
Hart IR, Goode T and Wilson GR (1989) Molecular aspects of the metastatic cascade. Biochem Biophys Acta 989: 65–84
Hsu SM, Raine L and Fanger H (1981) Use of Avidin-Biotin-Peroxidase Complex (ABC) in Immunoperoxidase Techniques: A comparison between ABC and Unlabeled Antibody (PAP) Procedures. J Histochem Cytochem 29: 577–580
Ikeda Y, Mori M, Adachi Y, Matsushima T and Sugimachi K (1994) Prognostic value of the histochemical expression of Helix pomatia agglutinin in advanced colorectal cancer. Dis Colon Rectum 37: 181–184
Kakeji Y, Tsujitani S, Mori M, Maehara Y and Sugimachi K (1991) Helix pomatia binding activity is a predictor of survival time for patients with gastric carcinoma. Cancer 68: 2438–2442
Kaplan EL and Meier P (1958) A non-parametric estimate from incomplete observations. J Am Stat Assoc 53: 457–480
Kjonniksen I, Rye PD and Fodstad ø (1994) Helix pomatia agglutinin in human tumour cell lines: correlation with pulmonary metastases in nude mice. Br J Cancer 69: 1021–1024
Leathem AJ and Brooks SA (1987) Predictive value of lectin binding on breast cancer recurrence and survival. Lancet I: 1054–1056
Leathem A, Dokal I and Atkins N (1985) Lectin binding to normal and malignant breast tissue. Diagn Histopathol 6: 171–180
Marks R and Kopf AW (1995) Cancer of the skin in the next century. Int J Dermatol 34: 445–447
Mitchell BS and Schumacher U (1999) The use of the lectin Helix pomatia agglutinin (HPA) as a prognostic indicator and as a tool in cancer research. Histol Histopathol 14: 217–226
Orfanos CE, Jung EG, Rassner G, Wolff HH and Garbe C (1994) Position paper of the Melanoma Committee of the German Dermatological Society on cutaneous malignant melanoma, with recommendations for diagnosis, treatment and follow up. Status 1993/94. Hautarzt 45: 285–291
Schumacher U, Higgs D, Loizidou M, Pickering R, Leathem A and Taylor I (1994) Helix Pomatia Agglutinin Binding Is a Useful Prognostic Indicator In Colorectal Carcinoma. Cancer 74: 3104–3107
Schumacher U, Adam E, Brooks SA and Leathem AJ (1995) Lectin binding properties of human breast cancer cell lines and human milk with particular reference to Helix pomatia agglutinin. J Histochem Cytochem 43: 275–281
Shirashi T, Atsumi S and Yatani R (1992) Comparative study of prostatic carcinoma bone metastasis among Japanese in Japan and Japanese Americans and Whites in Hawaii. Adv Exp Med Biol 324: 7–16
Tao TW and Burger MM (1982) Lectin-resistant variants of mouse melanoma cells. I. Altered metastasizing capacity and tumorigenicity. Int J Cancer 29: 425–430
Walker RA (1993) Helix pomatia and prognosis of breast cancer. Br J Cancer 68: 453–454
Yoshida Y, Okamura T and Shiakusa T (1993) An immunohistochemical study of Helix pomatia agglutinin binding on carcinomas of the oesophagus. Surg Gynecol Obstet 177: 299–302
Zhang L, Zhou W, Velculescu VE, Kern SE, Hruban RH, Hamilton SR, Vogelstein B and Kinzler KW (1997) Gene expression profiles in normal and cancer cells. Science 276: 1268–1272
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
From twelve months after its original publication, this work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
About this article
Cite this article
Thies, A., Moll, I., Berger, J. et al. Lectin binding to cutaneous malignant melanoma: HPA is associated with metastasis formation. Br J Cancer 84, 819–823 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1054/bjoc.2000.1673
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1054/bjoc.2000.1673
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
The role of glycans in the development and progression of prostate cancer
Nature Reviews Urology (2016)
-
Relevance of βGal–βGalNAc-containing glycans and the enzymes involved in their synthesis for invasion and survival in breast cancer patients
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment (2015)
-
Analysis and prediction of cancerlectins using evolutionary and domain information
BMC Research Notes (2011)
-
The new face of nucleolin in human melanoma
Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy (2009)
-
The Potentials of Glycomics in Biomarker Discovery
Clinical Proteomics (2008)