TURKISH JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY 2004 , Vol 19 , Num 4
CIALIC ACID AS PROGNOSTIC FACTOR IN LARYNX CARCINOMA
Dr. Ezel USLU1, Dr. Deniz GÜZEY2, Dr. Osman YAZICILAR3
1İstanbul Üniversitesi, Cerrahpaşa Tıp Fakültesi, Biyokimya ABD. Istanbul
2SSK Vakıf Gureba Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi 2. Cerrahi Kliniği Istanbul
3İstanbul Üniversitesi, Cerrahpaşa Tıp Fakültesi, Kulak- Burun-Boğaz Hastalıkları ABD, Istanbul
Background: It has been shown that serum sialic acid level is increased in some carcinoma types and decreased after therapy. So it has been stated that serum sialic acid level may be a prognostic indicator for some carcinomas. In the study presented here, serum sialic acid level was evaluated in laryngeal carcinoma.

Methods: All of the 38 patients treated in the clinic consecutively were included to the study without any selection. All of the patients were male and they had laringeal carcinoma in various stages. Blood samples were obtained from the patients preoperatively and at 15th postoperative day. Serum sialic acid level was measured by Warren's thiobarbituric acid method. Thirty healthy male formed the control group. The patients were evaluated according to their age, tumor locations and tumor stages.

Results: Preoperative serum sialic acid level was 73,1±5,3 mg/dl in control group and 78,5±8,1 mg/dl in the patient group. The difference was statistically significant (p<0,01). At 15th postoperative day, serum sialic acid level was increased to 83,3±4,8 mg/dl (p<0,001). Serum sialic acid level was not correlated to tumor location, tumor stage or patient age.

Conclusions: Although serum sialic acid level is high in the patients with laryngeal carcinoma, it is not correlated to tumor stage, so it has not a peculiarity to indicate the prognosis of the disease. And also, serum SA level is not a suitable indicator to determine the prognosis at early postoperative period. Keywords : Sialic acid, laryngeal carcinoma, biological marker