Importance of β3Gn-T6 Glycosyltransferase (enzyme involved in the synthesis of Core3 O-glycan) in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

It is well known that changes in the expression of mucin-type O-glycans can be seen in the initiation, progression, and metastasis of cancers.
A group of AIST has reported a study on the relationship between clinicopathology and O-glycans in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0242851

In pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, Tn-antigen and sialyl-LewisX antigen are highly expressed.
However, there was no correlation between these expression levels and disease-free survival (DFS).
Interestingly, however, there was a clear correlation between β3Gn-6T glycosyltransferase and DFS, indicating that higher expression of β3Gn-6T resulted in longer DFS.
The β3Gn-6T glycosyltransferase is a necessary enzyme for the synthesis of Core3 O-glycans.

At this stage, the mechanism of why the Core3 structure and its extended structure increase DFS is not known.
Let’s look forward to the progress of research in the future.  That may lead to the outcome of breaking down the general concern that “Glycan is just a physiological expression of disease state”, .