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The Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule NCAM is a membrane glycoprotein and belongs to the immunoglobulin superfamily. It is expressed on neural cells as well as on various neuroendocrine tumors and can be detected in sera of patients with small cell lung cancer. Its role is attributed to tumor invasion and formation of metastases. Malignant plasma cells and a subset of plasma cells from patients with monoclonal gammopathy exhibit surface expression of NCAM whereas normal plasma cells do not express NCAM. Expression as measured by flow cytometry using anti-CD56 antibodies does not seem to correlate with clinical course, however leukemic myelomas and myeloma cell lines tend to loose NCAM surface expression. An isoform of NCAM which is rich in polysialic acids and characteristic for embryonal NCAM (eNCAM) has been shown to be elevated in sera of patients with multiple myeloma using a chemiluminescence immunoassay. Patients with progressive myeloma tend to have high serum NCAM levels above the normal range of 20 U/ml. Analysis of 125 myeloma patients suggest that serum NCAM is a valuable parameter for tumor progression rather than tumor mass. Increase in serum NCAM may be associated with loss of adhesive function.
Kaiser et al. (1996) studied this question.