Other related information
Glycans and diseases
The table below shows the relationship between diseases and sugar chains. Recently, many
glycoproteins and glycolipids that serve as tumor markers have been discovered. These are produced
directly by cancer cells themselves or by surrounding cells under the influence of cancer cells, and their
quantitative or qualitative changes are applied to diagnosis. For example, since ÿ-fetoprotein (AFP)
increases significantly with liver cancer, quantitative changes have long been used for diagnosis. , it is
now possible to detect cancer at an early stage. In various diseases including cancer, the discovery of
new markers and the development of diagnostic methods using them are eagerly awaited and are being actively resea