title: [Serum galectin-9 in cervical cancer].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the expression level of Galectin-9 (Gal-9) in the serum of cervical cancer patients and analyze the clinic significance of it.
  
  
  METHODS
  Collected sera from 29 patients with cervical cancer, 45 patients with cervical inter-epithelial lesion (CIN) and 26 normal females. Determination of Gal-9 was performed by ELISA, and in the group of patients with cervical cancer, these results were compared with the serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and C-reactive protein (CRP). Then selecting four patients from the invasive cervical cancer group performed Gal-9 retrospective immuno-staining analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Gal-9 concentration was 27.15 ng/L in the group of patients with cervical cancer that was significantly higher compared with the patients with CIN (21.20 ng/L) and the normal females (17.43 ng/L), and the Gal-9 concentration was significantly correlated with both VEGF and CRP in cervical cancer group. Two of these patients, who had a higher Gal-9 serum level, shown more intense staining and the other two patients, with lower serum level of Gal-9, had moderate immunostaining, suggesting that at least part of serum Gal-9 might be produced by cervical cancer tissue.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gal-9 might play a role in the progression and invasion of cervical cancer and warrants further study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Shengjing Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, China.
authors.forename: Mei-yan
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Yan-ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Shu-lan
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D037161:Galectins / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D037161:Galectins; D002097:C-Reactive Protein