Levels of Blood Group Synthetic Enzymes in Human Colonic Carcinoma

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Abstract
Homogenates of tumorous and adjacent non-tumorous colorectal tissues from 18 patients were tested for the activities of blood group synthetic enzymes, i.e., .alpha.-D-galactosyl [gal] transferase for B [blood group antigen] isoantigen and .alpha.-N-acetyl-D-galactosamine [GalNAc] transferase of A [blood group antigen] isoantigen. The gal transferase activity in non-tumorous intestinal tissue was high in patients with blood group B, intermediate in group AB and was absent in group A or O. As compared with adjacent non-tumorous tissue, the gal transferase activity increased in tumors by 1.6 to 6.9 fold in 4 of 5 patients with blood group B or AB; the .alpha.-N-GalNAc transferase activity increased in 3 of 6 tumor tissues from patients of blood group A or AB. The reported losses of ABH isoantigen in colorectal cancer are probably not due to deficiencies of gal or GalNAc transferase activities involved in the synthesis of blood group antigens.