Circulating Galectin-3: A Prognostic Biomarker in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Biomarker Discovery
• Hepatology

Background:

• Galectin-3 is implicated in tumor cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation.
• Emerging evidence suggests galectin-3's involvement in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development.
• The prognostic significance of galectin-3 in HCC requires validation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the clinical utility of galectin-3.
• To determine the prognostic value of galectin-3 in patients diagnosed with HCC.

Main Methods:

• Prospective enrollment of 767 HCC patients and 200 controls.
• Collection of clinicopathologic data and serum samples.
• Kaplan-Meier method for overall survival (OS) analysis.

Main Results:

• High galectin-3 levels correlated with significantly inferior overall survival (median OS: 10.12 vs. 16.49 months, p=0.0022).
• Multivariate analysis revealed high galectin-3 as a predictor of poor OS (HR=1.249).
• Elevated galectin-3 was associated with hepatitis C virus infection, higher Child-Pugh score, and CLIP score.

Conclusions:

• Serum galectin-3 level demonstrates potential as a prognostic biomarker for HCC.
• This finding supports the clinical evaluation of galectin-3 for patient outcome assessment in HCC.