The clinical importance of serum galectin-3 levels in breast cancer patients with and without metastasis

• Published in: Journal of cancer research and therapeutics 2018-09, Vol.14 (10), p.583-586
• Main Authors: Topcu, Turkan, Kavgaci, Halil, Gunaldi, Meral, Kocoglu, Hakan, Akyol, Murat, Mentese, Ahmet, Yaman, Serap, Orem, Asim, Ozdemir, Feyyaz, Aydin, Fazil
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Age; Aged; Anticoagulants; Antigens; Antigens, Neoplasm - blood; Biomarkers, Tumor - blood; Blood platelets; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - blood; Carcinoembryonic Antigen - blood; Care and treatment; Chemotherapy; Development and progression; Female; Galectin 3 - blood; Gene expression; Genetic aspects; Health aspects; Hemoglobin; Humans; Lectins; Lung cancer; Lymphatic system; Melanoma; Metastasis; Middle Aged; Mortality; Mutation; Neoplasm Metastasis; Neutrophils; Partial Thromboplastin Time; Patients; Prothrombin Time; Studies
• ISSN: 0973-1482; 1998-4138
• DOI: 10.4103/0973-1482.176425

Objective: Studies have investigated expression status of galectin-3 (Gal-3), but very little is known about the importance of circulating Gal-3 in patients with breast cancer (BC). The purpose of the study was to investigate the clinical significance and potential diagnostic value of plasma Gal-3 levels in patients with BC. Materials and Methods: Fifty-two patients with BC and 35 age-matched healthy controls were enrolled. Levels of Gal-3 were investigated in BC patients and healthy controls. Gal-3 levels were determined using ELISA method. Results: Serum Gal-3 levels were significantly higher in BC patients than in controls (P = 0.002). Gal-3 levels did not significantly differ according to patients' statuses of lymph node involvement, hormone receptor, lymphovascular invasion, e-cadherin, menopausal, stage, serum hemostatic markers (prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, and international normalized ratio), platelet counts, mean platelet volume, lactate dehydrogenase, carcinoembryonic antigen, and carbohydrate antigen 15-3 values (P > 0.05 for all). A cut-off value of Gal-3 to predict BC was determined at ≥3.17 ng/ml with a sensitivity of 75.0%, a specificity of 65.71%, a positive and negative predictive values of 76.5 and 63.9%, respectively (area under the curve: 0.705 [95% confidence interval, 0.598-0.798], P = 0.0002). Conclusion: Serum Gal-3 levels were significantly higher in BC patients and did not significantly differ according to clinical and tumoral characteristics of patients. Furthermore, there was no difference in Gal-3 levels between BC patients with and without metastatic disease. Serum Gal-3 levels can be used as an adjunct to other diagnostic or screening tests for BC regardless of clinical and tumoral characteristics of patients.