Total Sialic Acid Concentrations as a Supporting Marker of Malignancy in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Abstract

To follow  up the  response of  acute  lymphoblastic  leukemic

(ALL)   patients   to   chemotherapy   treatment   and  for   prognosis, diagnosis,  the total Sialic acid  (TSA) levels was studied as a tumor marker. The study included 40 patients (male = 22, female =18) with (ALL)   were   tested   for   the   serum   and   leukocytes   homogenate concentrations  of total sialic acid (TSA)  before and after  treatment with    six   different   chemotherapy   protocols.                      While   significantly increased ( P< 0.001  ) as compared to the heal thy individuals group, serum   and   leukocytes  homogenate   TSA   concentrations   dropped significantly   (   P<O.OOl )   after   treatment   with   each   of   the   six chemotherapy  treatment  protocols,  as  compared  to  ALL  untreated

patients. A linear correlation relationship ( r2  = 0.951 4 ; r2 = 0.9451)

was  found  between  TSA  concentrations  and  the  period  of chemotherapy  treatment    in  serum  and  leukocytes  homogenate.  A linear correlation relationship (r2  = 0.9965) could be found between percentage  of  serum  total  sialic  acid  and  percentage  of  leukocytes

homogenate total sialic acid. The results of this study strongly support the role of TSA as a marker for the disease and suggest that it could be used for progression and prognosis of ALL patients, in addition we strongly suggest that there was a positive relationship between TSA level in serum and leukocytes.