Glycolipid of human pancreatic cancer; the appearance of neolacto-series (type 2 chain) glycolipid and the presence of incompatible blood group antigen in tumor tissues.

Glycolipid isolated from normal and cancerous human pancreatic tissues were characterized chemically and immunologically. The major neutral glycolipids in both normal and cancerous tissues were composed of globo-series glycolipids and lacto-series glycolipids. The mole percentage of fucolipids in the total neutral glycolipids of normal tissues was 20-40%, and in general the fucolipids corresponded to blood group glycolipids related to the patient's blood group, however, in cancerous tissues the amount of these fucolipids was decreased. Immunostaining revealed that normal tissues contained only lacto-series (type 1 chain) glycolipids. In contrast, cancerous tissues contained the neolacto-series (type 2 chain) glycolipids as well as the lacto-series glycolipids. Incompatible blood group antigens, A active glycolipids in a blood type O patient and B active glycolipids in a blood type A patient, were also detectable in the neutral glycolipid fractions of the pancreatic cancer tissues.