Galectin-4, a novel predictor for lymph node metastasis in lung adenocarcinoma.

Abstract

Metastasis is still a major issue in cancer, and the discovery of biomarkers predicting metastatic capacity is essential for the development of better therapeutic strategies for treating lung adenocarcinoma. By using a proteomic approach, we aimed to identify novel predictors for lymph node metastasis in lung adenocarcinoma. Two-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed 6 spots differentially expressed between lymph node metastasis-positive and lymph node metastasis-negative groups in a discovery set. Subsequent mass spectrometry showed that 2 of these spots were derived from galectin-4, and western blot analysis confirmed the overexpression of galectin-4 in metastatic samples. The predictive value of galectin-4 was confirmed by immunohistochemical analysis for a validation set consisting of 707 surgically resected specimens of lung adenocarcinomas (stages I to IV). We observed that 148 lung adenocarcinomas (20.9%) expressed galectin-4, which was significantly associated with variables of disease progression such as tumor size (p<0.0001), pleural invasion (p = 0.0071), venous invasion (p = 0.0178), nodal status (p = 0.0007), and TNM stage (p<0.0001). By the multivariate analysis, Galectin-4 expression was revealed as one of the independent predictor for lymph node metastasis, together with solid predominant and micropapillary histologic pattern. Furthermore, galectin-4 expression was revealed to be an independent predictor for lymph node metastasis and an adverse survival factor in patients with lung adenocarcinoma of acinar predominant type. Galectin-4 plays an important role in metastatic process of lung adenocarcinoma. Immunohistochemical testing for galectin-4 expression may be useful together with the detection of specific histology to predict the metastatic potential of lung adenocarcinoma.

• Authors: Takuo Hayashi, Tsuyoshi Saito, Tsutomu Fujimura, Kieko Hara, Kazuya Takamochi, Keiko Mitani, Reiko Mineki, Saiko Kazuno, Shiaki Oh, Takashi Ueno, Kenji Suzuki, Takashi Yao
• Journal: PloS one (PLoS One) Vol. 8 Issue 12 Pg. e81883 ( 2013) ISSN: 1932-6203 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 24339976 (Publication Type: Clinical Trial, Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Galectin 4
• Neoplasm Proteins

Topics

• Adenocarcinoma (metabolism, pathology)
• Adult
• Aged
• Female
• Follow-Up Studies
• Galectin 4 (biosynthesis)
• Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
• Humans
• Lung Neoplasms (metabolism, pathology)
• Lymph Nodes (metabolism, pathology)
• Lymphatic Metastasis
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Neoplasm Proteins (biosynthesis)
• Retrospective Studies