Serum sialic acid levels in diagnosis and monitoring of malignant tumor

Serum sialic acid (SA) levels were detected by neuraminidase method in 366 patients with malignant tumor, 40 patients with benign diseases and 40 healthy subjects.For 277 malignant tumor patients, serum SA levels were monitored before and after treatment.The serum SA levels in malignant tumor group were significantly higher than those in benign diseases and control groups (P ＜0.01 ), but there were no differences between normal and benign groups (P ＞0.05 ).Serum SA levels were decreased in malignant tumor patients with remission and stable disease after treatment.In remission or stable patients the decrease of serum SA levels occurred in the first three months and no changes were found from the fourth to sixth month; meanwhile SA levels were elevated in patients with instablc condition. Key words: Sialic acid;  Monitoring