Introduction: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide because of difficulties in early diagnosis. Aberrant glycosylation in serum proteins has been associated with many human diseases. Serum haptoglobin, a highly sialylated glycoprotein with four N-glycosylation sites, has gained considerable attention due to its potential as a signature molecule to display aberrant glycosylation in inflammatory disorders and various types of cancer. In particular, the relevance of haptoglobin glycosylation in GC has been investigated in a multifaceted way.

Areas covered: The screening of haptoglobin glycosylation could offer an alternative approach toward GC diagnosis and detection. In this report, various assay platforms such as glycan profiling, site-specific glycopeptide profiling, and intact protein profiling are introduced for the detection of abnormal glycosylation of serum haptoglobin.

Expert opinion: Although aberrant glycosylation of serum haptoglobin is associated with gastric cancer patients and might be a promising marker of GC screening, the development of a diagnosis platform to increase specificity and sensitivity for clinical use is still an analytical challenge. However, the continuous advancement of analytical technologies and methods will spur the paradigm shift from traditional serum markers, enabling the effective mining of human glycoproteome for GC diagnostic markers.

简介：由于早期诊断的困难，胃癌（GC）是世界范围内与癌症相关的死亡的主要原因之一。血清蛋白中异常糖基化与许多人类疾病有关。血清触珠蛋白是具有四个N-糖基化位点的高度唾液酸化的糖蛋白，由于其作为标志性分子在炎症性疾病和各种类型的癌症中表现出异常糖基化的潜力而备受关注。特别地，已经以多方面的方式研究了触珠蛋白糖基化在GC中的相关性。

涵盖的领域：触珠蛋白糖基化的筛选可以为GC诊断和检测提供另一种方法。在本报告中，引入了各种测定平台，例如聚糖谱，位点特异性糖肽谱和完整蛋白谱，以检测血清触珠蛋白的异常糖基化。

专家意见：尽管血清触珠蛋白的糖基化异常与胃癌患者有关，可能是GC筛查的有前途的标志，但开发诊断平台以增加临床特异性和敏感性仍是一项分析挑战。但是，分析技术和方法的不断进步将促使传统血清标志物发生范式转变，从而可以有效地挖掘人糖蛋白组中的GC诊断标志物。