Serum polysaccharide levels in rats bearing the Walker 256 tumor.

Abstract

Summary and Conclusions A study was made of the effect of tumor growth on the serum polysaccharide level of rats bearing the Walker 256 tumor. The total nonglucosamine polysaccharide increased greatly as the tumor size increased. Much of this increase was due to a polysaccharide associated with serum albumin as determined after the precipitation of globulins with 26 per cent sodium sulfate. The elevation occurred concurrently with an actual decrease in the albumin fraction relative to the globulin fraction in the sera of tumor-bearing animals. In the rat the polysaccharide content of the albumin fraction closely paralleled the tumor size, suggesting a possible relationship of this factor to tumor growth.