Reduced Galectin-3 Expression is an Indicator of Unfavorable Prognosis in Gastric Cancer

Background: Galectin-3 (gal-3) participates in a variety of biological events, including cell adhesion, proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship of gal-3 expression with clinicopathological findings and prognosis in patients with gastric cancer. Patients and Methods: Gal-3 and Ki-67 expressions were assessed by immunohistochemistry in 115 patients with gastric cancer. PCR-single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP)-sequence analysis and the levels of gal-3 mRNA were also examined. Results: The present study demonstrated that gal-3 expression was correlated with nodal status, lymphatic invasion, pathological stage and histological parameters. On the other hand, gal-3 expression did not correlate with the expression of Ki-67. Reduced expression of gal-3 was significantly associated with a poor prognosis and multivariate analysis showed that gal-3 expression was an independent prognostic factor. On PCR-SSCP-sequence analysis, 2 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected in the gal-3 gene, but none showed mutations. Conclusion: Reduced gal-3 expression was associated with lymph node metastasis, advanced stage and tumor differentiation in gastric cancer. Gal-3 expression could be a useful prognostic factor in gastric cancer.