Fibrotic Marker Galectin-3 Identifies Males at Risk of Developing Cancer and Heart Failure

Cancer and heart failure (HF) are the leading causes of death in the Western world. Shared mechanisms such as fibrosis may underlie either disease entity, furthermore it is unknown whether this relationship is sex-specific.

We sought to investigate how fibrosis-related biomarker galectin-3 (gal-3) aids in identifying individuals at risk for new-onset cancer and HF, and how this differs between sexes.

Gal-3 was measured at baseline and at 4-year follow-up in 5,786 patients of the PREVEND (Prevention of Renal and Vascular Endstage Disease) study. The total follow-up period was 11.5 years. An increase of ≥50% in gal-3 levels between measurements was considered relevant. We performed sex-stratified log-rank tests and Cox regression analyses overall and by sex to evaluate the association of gal-3 over time with both new-onset cancer and new-onset HF.

Of the 5,786 healthy participants (50% males), 399 (59% males) developed new-onset cancer, and 192 (65% males) developed new-onset HF. In males, an increase in gal-3 was significantly associated with new-onset cancer (both combined and certain cancer-specific subtypes), after adjusting for age, body mass index, hypertension, smoking status, estimated glomerular filtration rate, diabetes mellitus, triglycerides, coronary artery disease, and C-reactive protein (HR: 1.89; 95% CI: 1.32-2.71; P < 0.001). Similar analyses demonstrated an association with new-onset HF in males (HR: 1.77; 95% CI: 1.07-2.95; P = 0.028). In females, changes in gal-3 over time were neither associated with new-onset cancer nor new-onset HF.

Gal-3, a marker of fibrosis, is associated with new-onset cancer and new-onset HF in males, but not in females.