title: Pattern of galectins expression in actinic cheilitis with different risks of malignant transformation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Actinic cheilitis (AC) is a chronic inflammatory lesion that in some situations can turn into squamous cell carcinoma of the lip. The molecular mechanisms involved in this process are not yet completely understood. This study aimed to investigate the expression pattern of galectins in actinic cheilitis according to the histopathological grading.
  
  
  METHODS
  Immunoexpression of galectin-1, galectin-3, galectin-7, and galectin-9 was semiquantitatively analyzed in 65 cases of actinic cheilitis graded as low risk (n = 40) or high risk (n = 25) of malignant transformation. Association between the location of the galectins in the cellular compartments and histopathological grading was analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Galectin-1 was mainly observed in the cell cytoplasm, and was elevated (score 3) in 60% of cases, regardless of the histopathological grade (P > 0.05). Galectin-3 expression was higher in high-risk group than in the low-risk group (P < 0.05), with a predominant expression in the cytoplasm and nucleus of low-risk (67.5%), and only in the cytoplasm of high-risk cases (60%) (P < 0.05). Galectin-7 expression did not show significant differences between low-risk and high-risk groups (P > 0.05). With respect to galectin-9, 89.2% of cases were positive, showing decrease in median of scores as there was an increase in histological grade (P < 0.001), with predominant expression in the nucleus and cytoplasm.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study is the first indication of galectins involvement in the pathogenesis and morphologic progression of actinic cheilitis, particularly galectin-3 and galectin-9.
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Oral Pathology, Department of Dentistry, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria Luiza Diniz de Sousa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Dentistry, State University of Paraíba, Campina Grande, PB, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cassiano Francisco Weege
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Nonaka
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Oral Pathology, Department of Dentistry, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lélia Maria Guedes
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Queiroz
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Oral Pathology, Department of Dentistry, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lélia Batista
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: de Souza
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Oral Pathology, Department of Dentistry, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil.
authors.forename: Márcia Cristina da Costa
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Miguel
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Oral Pathology, Department of Dentistry, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil.
authors.forename: Éricka Janine Dantas
authors.initials: ÉJ
authors.lastname: da Silveira
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002613:Cheilitis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D037161:Galectins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008048:Lip Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D000077195:Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck
chemical_list: D037161:Galectins
keywords: cheilitis; galectins; immunohistochemistry; lip