Prognostic value of altered N-glycosylation of circulating glycoproteins in patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer treated with gemcitabine

Objectives The objectives of this study were to examine the whole-serum N-glycan profile of patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer and to evaluate the ability of glycans to predict gemcitabine treatment efficacy and patient survival. Methods We collected serum from 52 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer before they began gemcitabine monotherapy. The serum glycan profile was measured through comprehensive quantitative high-throughput glycome analysis and compared with the treatment efficacy and patient survival. Results Of the 61 glycans detected, the serum levels of glycan 4310 (molecular weight [m/z] 1549.566), 6301 (m/z 2032.724), and 9200 (m/z 2010.692) were high in patients with a short time to tumor progression (TTP). Multivariate analysis revealed that a high glycan 9200 concentration was an independent risk factor for shorter TTP (hazard ratio, 2.11; 95% confidence interval, 1.07-4.17) and poor overall survival (hazard ratio, 2.56; 95% confidence interval, 1.08-6.19). The median TTP of patients with up-regulation of 9200 after gemcitabine treatment was shorter than for the remaining patients (91 vs 301 days; P = 0.0005). A similar relationship was observed for overall survival (median, 181 vs 561 days; P = 0.001). Conclusions Glycan 9200 is a possible biomarker predicting gemcitabine efficacy survival in patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer.