Expression of Helix pomatia lectin binding glycoproteins in women with breast cancer in relationship to their blood group phenotypes.

Aberrant glycosylation occurs in essentially all types of human cancers. A difference in glycopattern of proteins will result in a change of function of the proteins. The lectin from Helix pomatia (HPA) recognizes N-acetylgalactosaminylated glycoproteins and very consistent results over the increased binding of HPA in tissue sections are associated with metastasis progression and poor patient prognosis in a range of human adenocarcinomas.