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Questions About Specific Health Issues

Blood Groups and Cancer Motility


STUDY:
ABH and Lewis histo-blood group antigens in cancer.

JOURNAL:
APMIS 2001 Jan;109(1):9-31

AUTHORS:
Le Pendu J, Marionneau S, Cailleau-Thomas A, Rocher J, Le Moullac-Vaidye B, Clement M.

ABSTRACT:
Antigens of the ABH and Lewis histo-blood group family can be found on many normal cells, mainly of epithelial type. In carcinomas, altered expression of the various carbohydrate epitopes of this family occur, and are often strongly associated with either a good or bad prognosis. A review of the available data on these tumor-associated markers, their biosynthesis and their prognostic value is proposed here. For a long time it has been unclear whether their presence could affect the behavior of carcinoma cells. Recent data, however, indicate that they play biological roles in the course of tumor progression. The presence of sialyl-Le(a) or sialyl-Le(x), which are ligands for selectins, promotes the metastatic process by facilitating interaction with the endothelium of distant organs. The loss of A and B antigens increases cellular motility, while the presence of H epitopes increases resistance to apoptosis by mechanisms that remain to be defined. The Le(y) antigen has procoagulant and angiogenic activities. All these observations are used to present a model that may account for the described associations between the presence or loss of these markers and the outcome of disease.


COMMENTARY:
We know that the presence of blood group antigens in our earliest hours of embryonic existence serve to channel the growth of the rapidly dividing cells into a cohesive living organism. Thus it is not unreasonable to assume that the lost of these same antigens later on in life could wreak havoc by giving rogue cancer cells the ability to spread (metastasize). Clearly studies aimed at reinstalling lost ABH antigens could represent a potentially useful therapy for cancer.








The Ask Dr. D'Adamo internet advice column ran from 1996 to 2009, at which time Dr. D'Adamo's teaching and programming responsibilities no longer allowed him to devote time and resources to directly answering visitor questions. However we've recently reorganized this treasure-trove of material and made it again available to his readership. He occasionally posts new entries. These are marked with a NEW tag.



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