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. 2021 May;12(10):1570-1578.
doi: 10.1111/1759-7714.13945. Epub 2021 Apr 1.

Prognostic significance of galectin-3 expression in patients with resected NSCLC treated with platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy

Seiichiro Kusuhara  1 , Satoshi Igawa  1 , Masaaki Ichinoe  2 , Ryo Nagashio  2 , Yuki Kuchitsu  3 , Yasuhiro Hiyoshi  1 , Kazu Shiomi  4 , Yoshiki Murakumo  2 , Makoto Saegusa  2 , Yukitoshi Satoh  4 , Yuichi Sato  3 , Katsuhiko Naoki  1
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Prognostic significance of galectin-3 expression in patients with resected NSCLC treated with platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy

Seiichiro Kusuhara et al. Thorac Cancer. 2021 May.

Abstract

Background: Galectin-3 (GAL3), a protein encoded by the LGALS3 gene, plays diverse roles in cancer initiation, progression, and drug resistance. Accordingly, high GAL3 expression in tumor cells is associated with poor prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the prognostic impact of GAL3 expression on patients with resected NSCLC receiving platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) remains unclear. This study aimed to determine the prognostic significance of GAL3 expression in NSCLC patients receiving platinum-based AC.

Methods: The study included 111 patients with completely resected stages II and IIIA NSCLC who were receiving platinum-based AC. GAL3 expression in cancer cells was evaluated immunohistochemically according to H-score ("histo score), with a score of ≥170 considered as high expression. The correlation of GAL3 expression with clinicopathological characteristics and survival was subsequently evaluated.

Results: In survival analysis, GAL3 expression was significantly associated with recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). In multivariate analysis, GAL3 expression was an independent predictive factor of RFS rather than OS.

Conclusions: GAL3 expression is a reliable biomarker to predict the prognosis of completely resected NSCLC patients receiving platinum-based AC.

Keywords: adjuvant chemotherapy; biomarker; galectin-3; immunohistochemistry; non-small cell lung cancer.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
GAL3 expression in non‐small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs). Cytoplasmic expression of GAL3 was observed in tumor cells at various intensities, depending on the case. The H‐score of GAL3 expression in tumor cells of (a), (b), and (c) were 0, 100, and 300, respectively. Original magnification ×400
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Cumulative survival of patients with non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) according to GAL3 expression, as estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method. Panels (a) and (b) show the recurrence‐free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS), respectively. High GAL3 expression was significantly associated with a shorter recurrence‐free survival (p = 0.001) and overall survival (p = 0.015) in patients with resected NSCLC who received platinum‐based adjuvant chemotherapy
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