Diverse alterations of glycosylation occur in diseases such as cancer,
metastasis, leukemia, inflammatory and other diseases. The glycosylation
abnormalities found in disease are the result of complex rearrangements
of the oligosaccharide assembly by glycosyltransferases. This volume
reviews several mechanisms that may underly the extremely complex
alterations in disease. Disease specific glycosylation may contribute to
the disease process by altering cellular functions, or may be exploited
therapeutically. Specific therapy may be aimed at correcting
glycosylation abnormalities based on knowledge of the mechanisms leading
to the disease phenotype and the three-dimensional interactions between
carbohydrates and carbohydrate-binding molecules.