Intranuclear accumulation of galectin-3 is associated with a poor prognosis in patients with invasive intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm

Abstract

Results:The intranuclear accumulation of galectin-3 (gal-3-INA) was more frequently encountered in patients with invasive IPMN than with non-invasive IPMN (P = 0.038). Incidences of background fibrosis and dilatation of the main pancreatic duct were higher in the high-galectin-3 expression group than in the low-galectin-3 expression group (P = 0.0041 and 0.006, respectively). Incidence of background fibrosis was also higher in patients with gal-3-INA than without gal-3-INA (P = 0.011). The presence of gal-3-INA was higher in the high-galectin-3 expression group than in the low-galectin-3 expression group (P = 0.014). The high-galectin-3-expression group and the patients with gal-3-INA had a significantly poorer prognosis than the low-galectin-3-expression group and those without gal-3-INA (P = 0.020 and P = 0.014, respectively). Multivariate analysis using a Cox regression model revealed that gal-3-INA was an independent prognostic factor (hazard ratio: 5.162, 95% confidential interval: 1.033-25.807, P = 0.046). Conclusions:The presence of gal-3-INA is an independent prognostic factor for patients with invasive IPMN.