Serum Neu5Gc biomarkers are elevated in primary cutaneous melanoma

Cutaneous melanoma is one of the most aggressive and deadly types of skin cancer and rates of disease are continuing to increase worldwide. Currently, no serum biomarkers exist for the early detection of cutaneous melanoma. Normal human cells cannot make the sialic acid sugar, Neu5Gc, yet human tumor cells express Neu5Gc and Neu5Gc-containing glycoconjugates have been proposed as tumor biomarkers. We engineered a Neu5Gc-specific lectin based on the pentameric B-subunit of the Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli subtilase cytotoxin, termed SubB2M. We have detected elevated Neu5Gc-containing biomarkers in the sera of ovarian and breast cancer patients in a highly sensitive surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-based assay using our SubB2M lectin. Here, we used the SubB2M-SPR assay to investigate Neu5Gc-containing glycoconjugates in the serum of cutaneous melanoma patients. We found elevated total serum Neu5Gc levels in primary (n = 24) and metastatic (n = 38) patients compared to cancer-free controls (n = 34). Serum Neu5Gc levels detected with SubB2M can distinguish cutaneous melanoma patients from cancer-free controls with high sensitivity and specificity as determined by ROC curve analysis. These data indicate that serum Neu5Gc-containing glycoconjugates are a novel class of biomarkers for cutaneous melanoma, particularly for primary melanoma, and have the potential to contribute to the early diagnosis of this disease.