Table 4.
Summary of glycan microarray studies for early detection and diagnosis of cancer
| Cancer Type | Array composition |
Samples screened | Key findings and glycan antigen hits | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breast Cancer | ~200 glycans and glycoproteins | 18 patients, 15 healthy controls |
LacNAcs, Fuc-Core-2s, Sulfo-Core-2s, sTn Antibodies to these glycans were significantly higher in all patients compared to healthy controls |
220 |
| Breast, Ovarian, Prostate | 15 Glycosylated/ non-glycosylated MUC1 and MUC2 peptides | 56 patients (ovarian, breast, prostate), 39 healthy controls |
Tn-, sTn-, and Core 3-modified MUC1 IgG to these antigens was present in several cancer patient serum samples but absent in al healthy controls. |
218 |
| Breast Cancer | 31 Glycosylated/ non-glycosylated MUC1 and MUC2 peptides | 395 patients, 108 benign breast disease controls, 99 healthy controls |
Core 3-MUC1, sTn-MUC1 More then 30% of cancer patients demonstrated antibody binding to these antigens; whereas less than 15% of healthy controls yielded the same result. |
224 |
| Breast Cancer | 11 Glycosylated/ non-glycosylated MUC1 and MUC2 peptides | Total: 1036 patients, 1368 controls Discovery: 273 patients, 273 controls Validation: 431 patients, 431 controls Third set: 332 patients, 664 controls |
MUC1-Core 3, MUC1sTn, MUC1Tn Antibodies to these antigens were observed to be elevated in cancer cases in the discovery set (however, the same trend was not observed in the validation set) |
219 |
| Breast Cancer | 40 Sialic acid variants (Neu5Ac vs Neu5Gc) | Discovery set: 87 patients, 25 healthy controls Validation set: 74 patients, 25 controls |
sTn with Neu5Gc sialylation Antibody signals to this glycan demonstrated predictive power (AUC = 0.6 in ROC) for breast cancer detection. |
132 |
| Breast Cancer | 8 Globo H and analogs | 58 patients, 47 controls |
Globo H IgG and IgM levels in cancer patient sera were roughly twice as high compared to healthy controls. |
228 |
| Ovarian Cancer | 203 Synthetic glycans (mammalian, bacterial, and cancer-associated motifs) | 33 patients, 24 healthy controls |
P1
and sialyl 6-sulfo LacNAc, 6-sialyl LacNAc, LN-6’LN, sTn, 6-sulfo-3’-sialyl TG Antibody levels to this combination of antigens yielded better diagnostic sensitivity (79.2%) and specificity (84.8%) than the standard in the field. Interestingly, anti-P1 antibodies are lower in cancer cases. |
230 |
| Ovarian Cancer | 203 Synthetic glycans (mammalian, bacterial, and cancer-associated motifs) | 74 patients, 81 controls |
P blood group glycans (Pk, P, and P1) These antigens were observed to be expressed in cancer tissue samples. Interestingly, anti-P1 antibodies are lower in cancer cases. |
231 |
| Ovarian Cancer | 3 Glycans (Globo H + 1 positive control + 1 negative control) | 19 patients, 29 controls |
Globo H IgG to this antigen, when used in tandem with CA-125 levels, improved diagnostic accuracy when compared to the standard (CA-125 alone). |
232 |
| Ovarian Cancer | 22 Sialylated and sulfated glycans | 22 patients, 31 controls |
sTn, 6-Osulfo-TF, 6-Osulfo-LacNAc, sLeA, GM2 Antibodies against these glycans, alongside CA-125 levels, detected almost all cancer cases (AUC = 0.9853 in ROC). |
233 |
| Colorectal Cancer | Array 1 (“glycochip”): 7 glycan antigens + 3 anti-human antibodies Array 2 (“oncochip”): 6 anti-glycan antibodies |
33 patients, 67 healthy conors, 27 IBD patients |
Tn, TF, sLeA, Manβ1–4GlcNAc Collective antibody signature to these four antigens—as determined by “glycochip” array analysis—determined “good predictive mutual capacity,” with AUC = 0.747 on ROC curve. |
235 |
| Colorectal Cancer | 51 glycan antigens (various types) | 44 patients, 53 healthy controls |
3’-O-sulfo-LeA and 3’sialyl-TF Antibodies to these antigens identified 74.3% of cancer cases in the cohort. |
236 |
| Colorectal Cancer | 49 Mucin glycopeptides and glycoproteins | 58 patients, 39 IBD patients, 50+53 healthy controls |
Tn-, sTn-, and Core 3-modified MUC1 IgG to these antigens was observed in ~75% of screened cancer serum samples. |
237 |
| Colorectal Cancer | 62 Sialylated glycans (Neu5Gc vs Neu5Ac) | 71 patients, 71 healthy controls |
Neu5Gc-containing glycans High cumulative IgG signal to Neu5Gc-containing glycans was associated with incidence of colorectal cancer. |
137 |
| Prostate Cancer | 64 N-glycans (glycoproteins, synthetic glycans, glycolipids, non-human glycans) | 17 patients, 12 controls |
Man-9, OR-ASOR Levels of antibodies to these glycans were significantly higher in cancer patients relative to controls |
241 |
| Liver Cancer | 2 AFP glycoforms (AFP-L1 and AFP-L3) | 32 patients, 8 hepatitis B patients |
AFP-L3 Antibody signals to this antigen were significantly higher in patients compared to controls. |
245 |
| Liver Cancer | 58 Synthetic glycans | 293 patients, 133 hepatitis B patients, 134 hepatitis C patients, 33 healthy |
Sialyl LacNAc 6SO₃, DSGG, Fuc-GM1, Gb3, Gb2, B19, and Man7 IgG levels to these antigens were significantly elevated relative to controls |
246 |
| Lymphoma | 37 Human and plant glycans | 8 patients, unspecified nuymber of healthy controls |
L-Araf, Fuc(α), Fuc(α1–2)Gal-β, Tn, and GalNAc(β) Antibody signal to these glycans was elevated compared to in controls |
249 |
| Gastric Cancer | 300 glycan antigens (various types) | 146 patients, 55 healthy controls |
KDNβ1–6’LN-C3, β1–3’SLN, LN-C8, Aα1–4A, TF, 3’Sialyl-LeC and Tn3Su IgM to these antigens elicited a significant signal. GN6Su, TF, para-Fs and βGU IgG to these antigens elicited a significant signal. |
252 |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 609 glycan antigens (various types) | 14 patients, 6 controls |
Terminal GlcNAcα1–4Galβ1–4GlcNAc
This motif was present in half of the glycans eliciting an antibody signal in this array. |
258 |
| OSCC | 22 glycan antigens (various types) | 65 patients, 21 healthy controls. |
SSEA-3, GD2 IgM signal to these antigens was elevated in cancer patients relative to controls. GD2, GloboH, LeY, sLeX IgG signal to these antigens was reduced in cancer patients relative to controls. |
261 |