Alterations of glycosaminoglycans in human liver and kidney tumors

Glycosaminoglycans were investigated in surgically removed human liver and kidney tumours by applying biochemical methods. Four liver adenoma, 6 focal nodular hyperplasia and 9 primary hepatocellular carcinoma samples were compared with normal liver from autopsy cases and also with liver tissue adjacent to PHC. The studies on kidney included 14 renal cell carcinoma and 4 wilms' tumour samples. Three findings emerged from the quantitative and qualitative characterization of the tumours with epithelial origin. 1) The rise in the amount of total GAG was not limited to the malignant lesion. Similar increase was observed in benign liver tumours and also in the tissue adjacent to liver or kidney malignant tumours. 2) The dominant type of the GAG subclasses varies with the histology of the tumours. In benign liver tumours dermatan sulfate, in PHC and renal cell carcinoma chondroitin sulfate, but in Wilms' tumour hyaluronate was the prominent GAG subclass. 3) In all tumour-affected tissues dermatan and chondroitin sulfates had lower degree of sulfation. However, in the histologically different tumours various disaccharides showed reduced level of sulfation. The GAG alteration in renal cell carcinoma was compared with the prognostic factors of each individual case. This analysis showed a good correlation between HS/CS ratio and the prognostic factors of the kidney tumour cases.