Adhesion molecules and inhibitors of glycosylation in cancer.

Expression of aberrant oligosaccharide moieties of glycoproteins and glycolipids is a typical characteristic of essentially all animal and human tumors, irrespective of the carcinogenic mechanism. Evidence is presented to document that transformation-associated alternations in the oligosaccharide moieties of surface and adhesive glycoproteins are responsible, at least in part, for expression of the malignant phenotype. However, the contribution of carbohydrates to tumor progression and metastasis cannot be fully assessed until more information is available concerning the multiple mechanisms that regulate cell adhesion and carbohydrate biosynthesis. Nevertheless, our rudimentary understanding of the carbohydrate-dependent events involved in cell adhesion and metastasis has resulted in animal studies to develop novel and exciting approaches to cancer therapy.