Cellular glycoconjugates and their specific receptors, e.g. lectins, form a recognitive and informative transfer system that justifies special scientific and clinical attention. In various contributions reviewing the initiation and recent progress in this rapidly developing field advances in clinical oncology are discussed with regard to basic sciences as well as their application in clinical sciences. The approaches comprise reports from diverse fields such as biochemistry, cell biology, pathology and clinical oncology, addressing questions of how tumors grow and spread, and leading to the improvement of clinical management and tumor diagnosis.

Molecular recognition undoubtedly governs any aspect of cellular interaction. To understand tumor cell growth regulation and spread, analysisof protein carbohydrate interactions can contribute to lead to the establishment of rational methods for diagnosis and therapy. Chemically and biochemically optimized preparation of adequate tools, their application for localization of receptor (tissue lectin) and ligand (cellular glycoconjugate) pairs in tumor cells and tumor sections and the usefulness of a lectin from a plant extract as potent immunomodulator indicate the prospect for a place of such techniques in pathology and oncology.