title: Clinicopathological significance of decreased galectin-3 expression and the long-term prognosis in patients with breast cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Galectin-3 expression is modulated in cancer cells, and that finding has led to the recognition of galectin-3 as a diagnostic or prognostic marker for various cancers, including breast cancer. This study investigated the correlation between galectin-3 expression and the clinicopathological features in patients with breast cancer, in order to determine the relevance and role of galectin-3 in breast cancer progression.
  
  
  METHODS
  Galectin-3 expression was investigated immunohistochemically in 116 patients with breast cancer, and a statistical analysis was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Galectin-3 expression in breast cancer was significantly associated with tumor vascular invasion. However, galectin-3 expression was not associated with Ki-67 expression, which reflects tumor proliferation. Disease-free survival and long-term overall survival were significantly shorter for patients with reduced galectin-3 expression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrated that the galectin-3 expression was associated with tumor vascular invasion and metastasis, suggesting that galectin-3 plays a critical role in tumor progression via an invasive mechanism but not via proliferation in breast cancer. Furthermore, reduced expression of galectin-3 is useful for predicting a long-term poor prognosis in patients with breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgical Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma University, 3-39-22 Showa-machi, Maebashi, Gunma, 371-8511, Japan.
authors.forename: Sayaka
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamaki
authors.forename: Takaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Reina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yajima
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hirakata
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Tomomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujisawa
authors.forename: Soichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tsutsumi
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Asao
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yanagita
authors.forename: Misa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iijima
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kuwano
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D037502:Galectin 3 / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000235:genetics; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D037502:Galectin 3