# DIAGNOSTIC ASSAY FOR I, I ANTIGENS IN BREAST CARCINOMA

> **NIH NIH R01** · WALTER L. SHEPEARD COMMUNITY BLOOD CTR · 1988 · $115,707

## Abstract

The 1,i antigens, which are precursors to blood group ABH antigens,
accumulate in cancer cells, and are shed into the blood stream.  The sera
of breast carcinoma patients have been shown to contain increased serum i
antigen concentation compared to those of patients with benign breast
disease, healthy controls, and women with non-malignant diseases (p lesser
than 0.001, respectively).  Therefore, the increases in serum i-antigenic
activities are apparently specific for malignancy.  The overlap of i
antigen values of breast carcinoma and benign breast disease patients
precludes clinical application of the assay at this time.  The development
of a diagnostic assay for breast carcinoma-associated 1, i antigens may
have clinical utility.  To develop such and assay, 1,i active glycopeptides
will be isolated from breast carcinoma tissue following proteolytic
digention.  The 1, i active glycopeptides will be purified by
Concanavalin-A, Bio-Gel P-6, and high performance liquid chromatography
(HPLC).  The carbohydrate structures of the glycopeptides will be
characterized by NMR and classical methods.  For this purpose, the O-linked
oligosaccharides will be cleaved from the glycopeptides by base borohydrate
and purified by Bio-Gel P-6 filtration and HPLC.  In the determination of
structures of the 1, i active oligosaccharides, 1H and 13C NMR in
conjunction with classical structural methods will be applied.  Once a
molecule is identified that is closely associated with breast carcinoma,
hypbridoma-monoclonal antibodies will be produced against that structure.
Glycopeptides from the breast carcinoma tissue or synthetic
oligosaccharide-BSA conjugates will serve as immunogens.  A non-competive
enzyme immunoassay will be developed to detect the breast
carcinoma-associated molecule.  Sera will be screened to determine the
predictive value of the test for breast carcinoma.  In a given patient,
serum 1, i activity will be compared to that expressed on the tumor tissue
by immunoflourescence.  The development of an assay with a high predictive
value should be useful in screening for breast carcinoma and in monitoring
for recurrence.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3177279
- **Project number:** 5R01CA038878-04
- **Recipient organization:** WALTER L. SHEPEARD COMMUNITY BLOOD CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** VOLKER E DUBE
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1988
- **Award amount:** $115,707
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1987-09-01 → 1989-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3177279

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3177279, DIAGNOSTIC ASSAY FOR I, I ANTIGENS IN BREAST CARCINOMA (5R01CA038878-04). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3177279. Licensed CC0.

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