Determining the degree of malignancy of individual cases of mammary carcinoma on the basis of clinical, morphological and biochemical parameters.

The histological and histochemical findings and the clinical course of 160 cases of breast cancer were compared with the biochemical values of the content and pattern of glycosaminoglycans (GAG) in the tumour tissue. For this purpose the cases were divided into 4 groups of increasing malignancy of the tumours, based on the morphological data and the clinical course after radical mastectomy (4-9 years follow-up). Samples of tumour tissue were examined biochemically-analytically for their total content of glycosaminoglycans and for their mg/g values of hyaluronic acid (H), chondroitin-4- and chondroitin-6-sulphates (CA + CC), dermatan sulphate (CB), heparan sulphate (HpS) and component (K). The statistical processing by means of the method of "discriminant analysis" of the corresponding GAG values in relation to the degree of malignancy displayed by the tumours yielded the following results: 1) the glycosaminoglycan patterns of the mammary carcinoma have characteristic features in common for the large majority of cases; 2) an exception of about 5% of the cases developed carcinomata with a very high (up to 100%) content of component. These cases generally have a more favourable clinical course (group 1); 3) the higher the ratio of hyaluronic acid to chondroitin sulphates the better the prognosis (groups 1 and 2, respectively). A ratio of hyaluronic acid to chondroitin sulphates under 0.5 indicates a poor prognosis (group 3 and 4, respectively); 4) high values of heparan sulphate and small ratios of hyaluronic acid to heparan sulphate also signal an unfavourable prognosis (groups 3 or 4). We consider that the above results are a means of defining the degree of malignancy of the breast tumours.

[Glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content and GAG electropherogram pattern of breast tumors and chronic fibrous mastopathy]. / Glykosaminoglykan(GAG)gehalt und GAG-Elektropherogramm-Muster von Mammatumoren und chronischer fibröser Mastopathie.

Out of 400 surgical specimens besides the histological and histochemical tests the content of glycosaminoglycans (GAG) was determined using biochemical methods. There were involved different kinds of tumours (carcinoma of the breast and their metastases, mammary fibroadenom, sarcomata of different origin, malignant melanoma) as well as gynaecomastia and mastopathy. As the results demonstrate, growing tumours are characterized by an elevated content of GAG compared to their tissue of origin. The mean GAG-content of the kinds of tumours investigated can vary by the factor 5. The highest mean GAG-content was found in sarcomata followed by mammary fibroadenomata and carcinomata of the breast. Additionally to their different GAG-content the different tumours and pathological changes as mastopathy are characterized by their different qualitative and quantitative composition of their GAG-components visualized by chromatographic and electrophoretic separation technique. As the evaluation of the electrophoretic results shows, there are existing GAG-electropherogram-patterns which are characteristically for a kind of tumour but not specifically. The usefulness of GAG-electropherogram-patterns is demonstrated. They enables us for example to differentiate between carcinoma of the breast and chronic fibrous mastopathy. Therefore it is suggested to take the ground substance and the GAG as an essential part of it more into consideration for the histological findings of tumours.

Electron microscopical investigations on the glycocalyx of cultivated cells after incubation with extracts from rapidly growing normal and tumour tissues.

Electron microscopical investigations by means of the ruthenium red method on Huggin-tumour cells cultivated in vitro resulted in a different thickness of the glycocalyx depending on the fixation of the cells in monolayer or, after mechanical detachment, in suspension. Cells fixed in suspension display a thicker glycocalyx, which is supposed to be due to a contraction of the cells before fixation. Tissue extracts from rapidly growing tissues (mammary gland of pregnant cows, tumour tissue) cause a significant reduction of the glycocalyx in transformed hamster fibroblasts and Huggin-tumour cells after an 18-hour period of action. These findings are in accordance with previous findings on the glycolytic effect of tissue extracts on sections of cartilaginous tissue. It is discussed whether the action of the tissue extracts on the glycocalyx is due to its detachment or to an inhibition of its renewal.