Galectin-3: a possible complementary marker to the PSA blood test

Abstract

The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test has served as a blood marker of prostate cancer (PCa), and for monitoring recurrence/metastasis in patients after therapeutic intervention. However, the applicability/reliability of the PSA test was recently questioned as it is not without challenges, in particular in men who have PCa without an elevated PSA (false negative), or in men who are disease-free with elevated levels of PSA (false positive). Galectin-3 is a tumor-associated protein; present in the seminal fluid and is a substrate for the PSA enzyme e.g., a chymotrypsin-like serine protease. We hypothesized that the cleavage status and level of galectin-3 in the prostate tissue and sera are associated with PCa. Thus, we compared galectin-3 levels obtained from sera of non-cancer urology patients to those of metastatic PCa patients. The data were confirmed by analyzing PCa tissue arrays. Here, we report that galectin-3 levels in the sera of patients with metastatic PCa were uniformly higher as compared to the non-cancer patient controls. The data suggest that galectin-3 serum level may be a useful serum complementary marker to the PSA blood test to be used for initial and follow-up PSA complimentary diagnostic/prognostic tool for recurrence in PCa patients.

Novel biomarker candidates for the diagnosis of ovarian clear cell carcinoma

“…In addition, GGT1 has been implicated in glucose and lipid metabolism (45). NAPSA and ALDH1A1 are correlated with resistance to certain anti-cancer agents (50); GPX3 acts as a potent tumor suppressor by decreasing the number of reactive oxygen species and limiting DNA damage (55); F3 and TFPI2 have roles in the regulation of the extrinsic coagulation cascade and thrombosis (59,60); and LGALS3 is associated with the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, which is important oncogenesis (12,68). Furthermore, CDH1 predicts a favorable prognosis (71).…”

“…Previous studies have identified a number of up-and downregulated genes involved in signaling pathways associated with clear cell carcinoma (12,(67)(68)(69). One of these genes, lectin, galactoside-binding, soluble, 3 (LGALS3), is a potential serum biomarker for the diagnosis of ovarian clear cell carcinoma.…”

Endothelial integrin α3β1 stabilizes carbohydrate-mediated tumor/endothelial cell adhesion and induces macromolecular signaling complex formation at the endothelial cell membrane

“…The multifaceted role for Gal-3 in tumor metastasis was first established by the pioneering works from the group of Dr. Avraham Raz [21-24]. Subsequently, it has been demonstrated that, while cancer cell expressed Gal-3 is involved in regulation of tumor cell apoptosis and homotypic aggregation [9, 21, 24, 25] and may even serve as a complementary serum marker in prostate cancer [26], it is endothelium expressed Gal-3 that mediates metastatic cell adhesion to the endothelium via interactions with cancer associated TF-Ag [9, 17-20]. Specifically, it has been shown that in the process of metastasis-associated endothelial activation TF-Ag expressed on either circulating tumor-associated glycoproteins or blood borne metastatic cells induces Gal-3 translocation to and clustering at the endothelial cell membrane [17, 27].…”

Correlation between the expression of integrins in prostate cancer and clinical outcome in 1284 patients

“…Recently, several markers like galectin 3, circulating microRNAs, and integrins were discussed as new prognostic biomarkers [4][5][6][7]. Integrins are transmembrane receptors that mediate cell signaling pathways.…”