Figure 6. Potential biomarker and therapeutic applications of N-glycans.

Serum N-glycan profiling (e.g., via mass spectrometry) of patients with colorectal cancer can be useful as a noninvasive method for early detection, predicting prognosis, and monitoring progression/recurrence. Moreover, glycosyltransferase expression profiling (e.g., via PCR array) paired with N-glycan profiling of colorectal cancer samples can reveal important information for predicting the response to treatment and can aid in distinguishing between different disease states.