Elevated serum galectin-3 is associated with poor prognosis in patients with colorectal carcinoma

Abstract

Background: Recently, galectin-3 was reported to induce in vitro secretion of metastasis-promoting cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-6, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1). Materials and Methods: We investigated galectin-3 serum levels in 48 patients with colorectal carcinoma before treatment and 20 healthy volunteers in relation to angiogenetic factors, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), IL-6, G-CSF and sICAM-1. Results: The serum levels of galectin-3 (3.1 ± 1.4 [healthy volunteers] vs. 9.5 ± 4.5 ng/ml[patients]), IL-6 (5.3 ± 4.2 vs. 12.9 ± 12.0 pg/ml), VEGF (270.4 ± 108.7 vs. 429.2 ± 410.5 pg/ml), G-CSF (93.6 ± 40.4 vs. 140.6 ± 83.0 pg/ml), and sICAM-1 (189.7 ± 61.0 vs. 297.5 ± 145.6 ng/ml) were significantly higher in the patients with colorectal carcinoma than in the healthy volunteers (P < 0.01, P < 0.01, P = 0.02, P = 0.01, and P < 0.01, respectively). Serum galectin-3 level correlated with the level of IL-6 (r = 0.360, P = 0.03), VEGF (r = 0.408, P < 0.01), and sICAM-1 (r = 0.474, P < 0.01). The patients with high serum galectin-3 (≥10 ng/ml) was associated with poorer prognosis than those with low galectin-3 (< 10 ng/ml) in all the patients (P = 0.047), and in the patients with stage III disease (P = 0.04). Conclusions: The concentration of serum galectin-3 correlated with IL-6, VEGF, and sICAM-1, and was associated with poorer prognosis in patients with colorectal carcinoma.