A SERIES OF FUCOSYLATED GLYCOSPHINGOLIPIDS WITH THE ""X'' DETERMINANT (GAL 1 4FUC 1 3GLCNAC) HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO ACCUMULATE IN HUMAN COLONIC AND LIVER ADENOCARCINOMA AND ARE VIRTUALLY ABSENT IN NORMAL COLONIC MUCOSA AND NORMAL LIVER TISSUE.

A SERIES OF FUCOSYLATED GLYCOSPHINGOLIPIDS WITH THE ""X'' DETERMINANT (GAL 1 4FUC 1 3GLCNAC) HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO ACCUMULATE IN HUMAN COLONIC AND LIVER ADENOCARCINOMA AND ARE VIRTUALLY ABSENT IN NORMAL COLONIC MUCOSA AND NORMAL LIVER TISSUE. HOWEVER, SMALL QUANTITIES OF FUCOLIPIDS WITH THE ""X'' DETERMINANT (LEX) ARE DISTRIBUTED IN NORMAL TISSUES, SUCH AS GASTRIC EPITHELIA AND KIDNEY TUBULES. PRELIMINARY STUDIES INDICATED THE PRESENCE OF LEX GLYCOLIPIDS IN THE CIRCULATING IMMUNE COMPLEXES OF BREAST AND COLON ADENOCARCINOMA PATIENTS, WHEREAS NONE WERE DETECTED IN NORMAL HUMAN OR MELANOMA PATIENTS. THE AIM OF THIS STUDY IS TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE LEX-RELATED IMMUNE COMPLEXES ARE PRESENT SPECIFICALLY IN THE SERA OF ADENOCARCINOMA PATIENTS. THE SPECIFIC FUCOLIPIDS WILL BE ISOLATED FROM THE SERUM OF COLON, BREAST, LIVER, AND LUNG ADENOCARCINOMA PATIENTS AND CHARACTERIZED BY THIN LAYER CHROMATOGRAPHIC IMMUNOSTAINING, PARTIAL METHYLATION, AND MASS-SPECTRAL ANALYSIS. SOLID PHASE ASSAYS USING MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES WILL BE DEVELOPED TO SCREEN QUANTITATIVELY FOR THE LEX ANTIGENS IN THE CIRCULATING IMMUNE COMPLEXES OF ADENOCARCINOMA PATIENTS. THESE IMMUNE COMPLEXES WILL BE OBTAINED BY PASSING THE PATIENT'S PLASMA OVER PROTEIN A LINKED TO AN INERT SUPPORT (PROSORBATM). CORRELATION BETWEEN THE REMOVAL OF THE LEX-RELATED IMMUNE COMPLEXES BY SUCCESSIVE PROTEIN A TREATMENTS TO THE PROGNOSIS OF THE DISEASE WILL BE ESTABLISHED. THESE STUDIES WILL DETERMINE THE USEFULNESS OF LEX ANTIGENS AS A DIAGNOSTIC AND/OR PROGNOSTIC INDICATOR IN ADENOCARCINOMA. PHASE II STUDIES WILL BE AIMED TOWARDS PRODUCING A DIAGNOSTIC KIT FOR THE CLINICAL APPLICATION. MORE MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES WILL BE RAISED WHICH RECOGNIZE ONLY DIFUCOSYL Y2, Z3, AND Z4 TYPE OF FUCOLIPIDS (ALL CONTAIN ""X'' DETERMINANTS AND ARE HIGHLY SPECIFIC FOR LIVER AND COLONIC ADENOCARCI-NOMA).