Enzyme activity in invasive tumors of human breast and colon.

Elevated levels of glycoprotein:sialyltransferase activity (EC 2.4.99.1; CMP-N-acetylneuraminate: D-galactosyl-glycoprotein N-acetylneuraminyltransferase) were found in human malignant neoplastic tissues compared to normal, benign, and "preneoplastic" tissues. This increase was not due to the cell density of the tissue. Elevated levels of certain proteases and glycosidases were also found. The increase in transferase activity may be associated with altered membrane synthesis in the neoplastic state; changes in the activity of degradative enzymes may be associated with tumor invasiveness and maintenance of the neoplastic state. Measurements on human tumors are possibly more directly relevant to cancer than those described for transformed fibroblastic cells in vitro.