Galectin Expression Profiling Identifies Galectin-1 and Galectin-9 Delta 5 as Prognostic Factors in Stage I/II Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Iris A. Schulkens, Roy Heusschen, Vivian van den Boogaart, Robert-Jan van Suylen, Anne-Marie C. Dingemans, Arjan W. Griffioen, Victor L. Thijssen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Approximately 30-40% of the patients with early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) will present with recurrent disease within two years of resection. Here, we performed extensive galectin expression profiling in a retrospective study using frozen and paraffin embedded tumor tissues from 87 stage I/II NSCLC patients. Our data show that galectin mRNA expression in NSCLC is confined to galectin-1, -3, -4, -7, -8, and -9. Next to stage, univariable Cox regression analysis identified galectin-1, galectin-9FL and galectin-9 Delta 5 as possible prognostic markers. Kaplan-Meier survival estimates revealed that overall survival was significantly shorter in patients that express galectin-1 above median levels, i.e., 23.0 (2.9-43.1) vs. 59.9 (47.7-72.1) months (p = 0.020) as well as in patients that express galectin-9 Delta 5 or galectin-9FL below the median, resp. 59.9 (41.9-75.9) vs. 32.8 (8.7-56.9) months (p = 0.014) or 23.2 (20.4-46.8) vs. 58.9 (42.9-74.9) months (p = 0.042). All three galectins were also prognostic for disease free survival. Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that for OS, the most significant prognostic model included stage, age, gal-1 and gal-9 Delta 5 while the model for DFS included stage, age and gal-9 Delta 5. In conclusion, the current study confirms the prognostic value of galectin-1 and identifies galectin-9 Delta 5 as novel potential prognostic markers in early stage NSCLC. These findings could help to identify early stage NSCLC patients that might benefit most from adjuvant chemotherapy.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere107988
JournalPLOS ONE
Volume9
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 26 Sept 2014

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