Assessment of serum L-fucose in brain tumor cases

BACKGROUND: Glycosylation of altered tumor cell in relation to cellular heterogeneity in human intracranial tumors remains relatively unexposed. Serum protein-bound carbohydrate, L-Fucose is reported to be overexpressed during tumor progression by many investigators. Therefore, there is a need to determine the diagnostic, prognostic, functional significance of glycoprotein elevations in various cases of tumors. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the present study was to evaluate the clinical utility of serum L-fucose in patients with brain tumor. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Serum glyco-conjugate levels were estimated in 99 patients with brain tumors. Estimation of L-fucose was carried out colorimetrically by the method of Winzler using cysteine hydrochloride. RESULTS: There was a significant increase in L-fucose level in most of the patients. In the posttreatment cases, the L-fucose levels were apparently low compared to preoperative values. CONCLUSION: Our results showed that the rise in serum L-fucose may be used as a general marker for brain tumors in addition to other markers.