title: Galectin-1 is an independent prognostic factor for local recurrence and survival after definitive radiation therapy for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the role of galectin-1 in patients with cervical cancer after definitive radiation therapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed 154 patients with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage I-II squamous cell carcinoma. Patients underwent curative-intent radiation therapy. Paraffin-embedded tissues were analyzed using immunohistochemistry staining for galectin-1. The rates of cancer-specific survival (CSS), local recurrence (LR), and distant metastasis were compared among patient tissue samples with no, weak, and strong galectin-1 expression. The Kaplan-Meier method and the Cox proportional hazard model with hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used for univariate and multivariate analyses, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The areas under the curve for the intracellular expression scores of galectin-1 for both LR and CSS were significantly higher than those for stromal expression. There were no significant differences in the demographic data, such as stage and serum tumor markers, between patients with and without intracellular expression of galectin-1 in cancer tissue samples. Using multivariate analyses, the hazard ratios of LR and CSS were 2.60 (95% CI 1.50-4.52) (P=.001) and 1.94 (95% CI 1.18-3.19) (P=.010), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Galectin-1 is an independent prognostic factor associated with LR and CSS in stage I-II cervical cancer patients undergoing definitive radiation therapy. Further studies targeting galectin-1 may improve the local control of cervical cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Eng-Yen
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Chan-Chao
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chanchien
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Chung-Chi
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Chong-Jong
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Chao-Cheng
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D019540:Area Under Curve; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000556:secondary; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D037483:Galectin 1 / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012372:ROC Curve; D011836:Radiation Tolerance; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D037483:Galectin 1