title: Clinical Significance of Serum Galectin-3 Levels in Gastric Cancer Patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Galectin-3, a member of the galectin family, is an endogenous β-galactoside-binding lectin. It plays an important role in the pathogenesis of multiple malignancies and its expression strongly also affects the outcomes of cancer patients. The objective of this study was to determine the clinical significance of the serum levels of galectin-3 in gastric cancer patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 58 patients with diagnosis of gastric cancer were enrolled into this study. Serum galectin-3 concentrations were determined by the solid-phase sandwich ELISA method. Age- and sex-matched 30 healthy controls were included in the analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median age at diagnosis was 59.5 years, range 32 to 82 years. There was no significant difference in the baseline serum galectin-3 levels between gastric cancer patients and healthy controls (p = 0.357). The older patients had elevated galectin-3 levels compared with younger ones (p = 0.02). The other known clinical variables including gender, site of lesion, histopathology, tumor size, lymph node involvement, and stage of disease were not correlated with serum galectin-3 concentrations (p > 0.05). Moreover, no relationship was shown between serum galectin-3 level and chemotherapy responsiveness (p = 0.36). Likewise, serum galectin-3 concentrations were not associated with prognosis on survival (p = 0.54).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum levels of galectin-3 have no diagnostic, predictive and prognostic roles in gastric cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oncology, University of Istanbul, 34390, Istanbul, Turkey. faruktas2002@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Faruk
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tas
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oncology, University of Istanbul, 34390, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Elif
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bilgin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oncology, University of Istanbul, 34390, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Didem
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tastekin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oncology, University of Istanbul, 34390, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Kayhan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Erturk
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oncology, University of Istanbul, 34390, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Derya
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Duranyildiz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D037502:Galectin 3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D037502:Galectin 3
keywords: Galectin-3; Gastric cancer; Serum