[Sialyl Lewis(x)-I (SLX) as a tumor-associated carbohydrate antigen in sera in patients with gastric and colorectal cancer--evaluation according to clinico-pathological factors].

Sialyl Lewis(x)-i (SLX) as a new tumor-associated antigen was assayed in sera of 133 gastric cancer and 62 colorectal cancer patients with preoperative state in order to elucidate the clinico-pathological features. The percent positives in sera of patients with gastric and colorectal cancer were 12.7% (17/133) and 16.1% (10/62), respectively, and there were few positive cases in the early stages. Therefore, it is suggested that the early diagnosis for gastric and colorectal cancer using SLX alone may be difficult. However, it is revealed that SLX has a high tumor-specificity in consideration of the clinico-pathological properties such as H, P, n, ly, v factors, depth of cancer invasion and operative radicality. These data suggested that SLX could be applicable as a useful tumor-marker which shows the metastasis or extension of carcinoma.