Cancer Cell International (Nov 2018)

Prognostic role of galectin-3 expression in patients with solid tumors: a meta-analysis of 36 eligible studies

  • Yi Wang,
  • Shiwei Liu,
  • Ye Tian,
  • Yamin Wang,
  • Qijie Zhang,
  • Xiang Zhou,
  • Xianghu Meng,
  • Ninghong Song

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12935-018-0668-y
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 18, no. 1
pp. 1 – 15

Abstract

Read online

Abstract Background Galectin-3 as a β-galactoside-binding protein, has been found to be involved in tumor cell growth, anti-apoptosis, adhesion, angiogenesis, invasion, and distant metastases, indicating that it may play a pivotal role in cancer development and progression. However, their results remain debatable and inconclusive. Hence, this meta-analysis was performed to clarify the precise predictive value of galectin-3 in various cancers. Methods PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, CNKI and Wanfang databases were searched comprehensively for eligible studies up to July 15, 2018. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of OS or DFS/PFS/RFS were calculated to demonstrate their associations. Results A total of 36 relevant studies were ultimately enrolled in this meta-analysis. Our results shed light on the significant association of elevated galectin-3 expression with reduced OS or DFS/RFS/PFS in overall cancer patients (pooled HR = 1.79, 95% CI 1.42–2.27, I 2= 67.3%, p < 0.01; pooled HR = 1.57, 95% CI 1.04–2.37, I 2= 67.1%, p = 0.001). In tumor type subgroup analysis, we found high expression of galectin-3 was correlated with shorter OS or DFS/RFS/PFS in colorectal cancer (pooled HR = 3.05, 95% CI 2.13–4.35, I 2= 0.0%, p = 0.734; pooled HR = 2.49, 95% CI 1.82–3.41, I 2 = 0.0%, p = 0.738; respectively) and meanwhile it merely associated with reduced OS in ovarian cancer or non-small cell lung cancer (pooled HR = 2.24, 95% CI 1.38–3.64, I 2= 0.0%, p = 0.910; pooled HR = 2.07, 95% CI 1.48–2.88, I 2= 0.0%, p = 0.563; separately). Conclusions Taken together, our results suggested that galectin-3 played an oncogenic role in colorectal cancer, ovarian cancer and non-small cell lung cancer, indicating it could be a promising biomarker and a novel therapeutic target for them. Further studies were warranted to validate our findings.

Keywords