OncoTargets and Therapy (Oct 2022)
Serum Levels of Galectin-9 are Increased in Cervical Cancer Patients and are Higher in Advanced Clinical Stages
Abstract
Tania Reyes-Vallejo,1 Ileana Conde-Rodríguez,2 Jocelyn Serna-Villalobos,2 Ivonne Ramírez-Díaz,2 Gabriela Pérez-Villalobos,3 Guadalupe Delgado-López,4 Víctor Javier Vazquez-Zamora,5 Claudia Teresita Gutiérrez-Quiroz,5 Laura Ávila-Jiménez,6 Alejandro García-Carrancá,7 Liliana Martínez-Acosta,8 Gerardo Santos-López,4 Julio Reyes-Leyva,9 Verónica Vallejo-Ruiz4 1Departamento de Ciencias Químico-Biológicas, Universidad de las Américas Puebla, Puebla, México; 2Posgrado en Ciencias Químicas, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, México; 3Facultad de Medicina, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, México; 4Centro de Investigación Biomédica de Oriente, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Atlixco, Puebla, México; 5Hospital de Especialidades, General Manuel Ávila Camacho, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Puebla, México; 6Organo de Operación Administrativa Desconcentrada Estatal Morelos, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México; 7Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, Ciudad de México, México; 8Hospital General de Zona No. 5, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Puebla, México; 9Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, MéxicoCorrespondence: Verónica Vallejo-Ruiz, Centro de Investigación Biomédica de Oriente, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Km 4.5 Carretera Federal Atlixco-Metepec, s/n, Z.C, Atlixco, Puebla, 74360, México, Tel +52 24 44 440 122, Email [email protected]; [email protected]: Cervical cancer (CC) is the second most frequent cancer in undeveloped countries. Serum biomarkers could be useful for evaluation of the treatment response and as a complementary means to improve diagnosis. The expression of galectin-9 is altered in cancer tissue, and higher concentrations are found in the serum of cancer patients. The objectives of this study were (a) to determine the serum galectin-9 concentration in patients with intraepithelial lesions and CC, (b) to determine if the concentration was related to the clinicopathological characteristics and (c) to determine if the galectin-9 concentration was related to its expression level in tumour tissue.Patients and Methods: In all, 222 serum samples from women with different diagnoses, including premalignant lesions and CC, as well as samples from women with normal cytology were included in the study. The serum galectin-9 concentration was determined by ELISA. To evaluate the expression level of galectin-9 in CC tissue, immunohistochemistry was performed in 34 CC biopsy specimens.Results: The galectin-9 concentration in the serum of CC patients (8.171 ng/mL) was increased compared with serum from women with normal epithelia (4.654 ng/mL) and those with low-grade (4.806 ng/mL) and high-grade (5.354 ng/mL) intraepithelial lesions (p value < 0.0001). The area under the ROC curve considering the CC group and the control group was 0.882. The optimal cut-off value was ≥ 6.88 ng/mL, the specificity obtained was 100%, and the sensitivity was 68.2%. In the CC group, the analysis of the clinical stage showed an increase of galectin-9 in the advanced stage IV group. Serum galectin-9 was not related to the level of galectin-9 expression in tissue, which suggests that galectin-9 is not secreted by tumour cells.Conclusion: The serum galectin-9 concentration is related to cancer progression, as the level of this protein is higher in patients with advanced-stage disease.Keywords: galectin-9, serum biomarker, prognostic markers, cervical cancer, premalignant lesions
