Wheat germ agglutinin binding is a useful prognostic indicator in stomach cancer

Abstract

Background. Recent studies suggest that lectin binding activity is correlated with the metastasis and prognosis of several human carcinomas. Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) is a lectin that recognizes mainly N-acetyl-glucosamin (GalNAc) and acetyl-neuramic acid. However, little is known about WGA expression in gastric carcinoma. The purpose of this investigation was to clarify the significance of WGA expression in human gastric carcinoma. Methods. WGA binding was examined immunohistochemically in 353 specimens of primary gastric carcinomas from patients surgically treated at the First Department of Surgery, Fukushima Medical School, between 1980 and 1990. We studied the relationship between WGA expression and various clinicopathologic features and long-term survival. Results. Overall, 145/353 of the tumors (41%) were stained for WGA. WGA expression correlated with mean patient age, lymph node metastasis, venous invasion, and liver metastasis. Patients with tumors that were nonimmunoreactive for WGA had significantly lower 5-year survival rates than those with immunostained tumors (P Ͻ 0.05). WGA expression emerged as an independent prognostic factor on Cox's multivariate analysis. Conclusion. WGA binding is a useful prognostic indicator. Careful follow-up and intensive postoperative therapy are required for patients with gastric carcinomas that are nonimmunoreactive for WGA.

Differential Apoptotic and Mitogenic Effects of Lectins in Zebrafish

“…Our results showed that both WGA and SBA reduced Bcl-2 and phospho-Bad levels, thus promoted cell apoptosis. Regardless of much neglects in normal tissues and cells, much efforts have been made to examine the apoptotic inducing effects of lectins in cancerous cells and consider it as potential anti-cancer agent (20, 21). WGA exposure induced chromatin condensation, nuclear fragmentation in human pancreatic carcinoma cells (42).…”

“…Previous studies, including those conducted in cancerous cell lines, were mainly focused on the pathological and apoptotic inducing effects of lectins (6, 20, 23). The upstream cell signaling pathways influenced by lectins were far less characterized.…”

“…Although the pathological effects of plant lectins are well-documented (12, 14, 17), the exact molecular reactions exerted by lectins toward targeted cells and tissues still remain largely unexplored. Rather, the cytotoxic effects of lectins are well-studied in cancerous cells (20–22). For example, Con A has been found to induce apoptosis by increasing cytochrome c release and caspase-9 and caspase-3 levels in human melanoma A375 cells (23).…”