Aberrant glycosylation of the anti-Thomsen-Friedenreich glycotope immunoglobulin G in gastric cancer patients

Figure 1 Thomsen-Friedenreich glycotope-IgG level in patients with stomach cancer and controls. A: Box plots of anti-TF IgG levels (medians, ranges and quartiles) in controls and cancer patients; B: Anti-TF IgG levels in cancer patients by stage. Significantly higher in stage 1 compared with stages 2, 3 and 4 (P = 0.02, 0.001 and 0.01, respectively). P values were calculated by the Mann-Whitney U test.

Figure 2 Binding of lectins to the Thomsen-Friedenreich glycotope-specific IgG in gastric cancer patients and controls. A: Concanavalin A (ConA); B: Aleuria aurantia lectin (AAL); C: Sambucus nigra agglutinin (SNA). Box plots of lectin index values (medians, ranges and quartiles) in patients with stomach cancer, healthy blood donors and patients with benign stomach disease. P values were calculated by the Mann-Whitney U test and are shown for significant differences.

Figure 3 Anti-Thomsen-Friedenreich glycotope-specific IgG glycosylation profile as defined by concanavalin A, Aleuria aurantia lectin and Sambucus nigra agglutinin binding. A: Non-cancer group and cancer patients; B: Relation to the stage of cancer. The results are depicted as mean with error bars representing SEM. P values were calculated by the Mann-Whitney U test: ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01 vs controls for all lectins. ConA: Concanavalin A; AAL: Aleuria aurantia lectin SNA: Sambucus nigra agglutinin.

Figure 4 Sensitivity and specificity of anti-Thomsen-Friedenreich glycotope-specific IgG glycosylation changes in stomach cancer. A: Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis by lectin binding index values; B: ROC curve analysis by lectin combinations using the ratios of concanavalin A (ConA)/Sambucus nigra agglutinin (SNA), ConA/Aleuria aurantia lectin (AAL) and AAL/SNA.

Figure 5 Binding of lectins to Thomsen-Friedenreich glycotope-specific IgG and the survival of patients with stomach cancer. The probability of survival (Kaplan-Meier method) of stomach cancer patients in relation to lectin binding to Thomsen-Friedenreich glycotope (TF)-specific IgG. A: Concanavalin A (ConA) lectin binding of all cancer patients; B: Aleuria aurantia lectin (AAL) binding in all cancer patients; C: Sambucus nigra agglutinin (SNA) binding in all cancer patients; D: ConA binding in patients with stage 3-4 cancer; E: AAL binding in patients with stage 3-4 cancer; F: SNA binding of patients with stage 3-4 cancer. Patient lectin index values, which were either lower, equal to (dashed line) or higher (solid line) than the cut-off are compared. The cut-off levels were calculated using time-dependent receiver operator characteristic curve analysis.