Galectin-3 as a marker and potential therapeutic target in breast cancer

• Published in: PloS one 2014-09, Vol.9 (9), p.e103482
• Main Authors: Zhang, Hao, Luo, Minna, Liang, Xi, Wang, Dan, Gu, Xin, Duan, Chao, Gu, Huizi, Chen, Guanglei, Zhao, Xinhan, Zhao, Zuowei, Liu, Caigang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Analysis; Apoptosis; Apoptosis - drug effects; Arsenic; Arsenic Trioxide; Arsenicals - pharmacology; Biomarkers, Tumor - deficiency; Biomarkers, Tumor - genetics; Biomarkers, Tumor - metabolism; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - drug therapy; Breast Neoplasms - metabolism; Breast Neoplasms - pathology; Cancer; Cell cycle; Cell growth; Cell Line, Tumor; Chemoresistance; Chemotherapy; Development and progression; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; Female; Galectin 3 - deficiency; Galectin 3 - genetics; Galectin 3 - metabolism; Galectin-3; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic - drug effects; Gene Knockdown Techniques; Health aspects; Hospitals; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Killing; Medical prognosis; Medicine and Health Sciences; Molecular Targeted Therapy; Multiple myeloma; Nitric oxide; Oxides - pharmacology; Prognosis; Regression analysis; RNA, Small Interfering - genetics; Studies; Surgery; Survival Analysis; Tissues; Tumors
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0103482

Galectin-3 has a relatively high level of expression in triple-negative breast cancers and is a potential marker for this disease. However, the clinical and prognostic implications of galectin-3 expression in breast cancer remain unclear. We examined mastectomy specimens from 1086 breast cancer cases and matching, adjacent non-cancerous tissues using immunohistochemistry. Overall, triple-negative breast cancers expressed galectin-3 more strongly than did other breast cancers types (63.59% vs 21.36%, P = 0.001). Galectin-3 expression was not found to be an independent prognostic factor for breast cancer by Cox regression analysis, but was associated with chemotherapeutic resistance. Apoptosis was only weakly induced by arsenic trioxide (ATO) treatment in galectin-3-positive breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7), although ATO treatment up-regulated galectin-3 expression. Knockdown of galectin-3 in MDA-MB-231 cells sensitized them to killing by ATO. These findings support a possible role for galectin-3 as a marker for triple-negative breast cancer progression and as a therapeutic target in combination with ATO treatment, although the mechanisms that underlie this synergy require further investigation.