Background: Galectins are a family of carbohydrate binding proteins that regulate several cellular functions such as growth, migration, adhesion and apoptosis.
Methods: We investigated the expression of galectin (gal)-1 and galectin (gal)-3 in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and observed their effects on growth and survival of OSCC cell lines.
Results: OSCC patients expressed significantly higher levels of gal-1 and gal-3 in circulation (p<0.0001) and at the tumour sites (p<0.01) as compared to controls. Patients with higher tumour load showed significantly higher expression of both galectins than those with lower tumour load. In ROC analysis, serum levels of gal-1 and gal-3 at cut-off values of 4.875 and 0.871ng/ml respectively, discriminated between healthy subjects and patients with more than 80% sensitivity and specificity. Similarly, logistic regression analysis revealed about 3-times higher risk of OSCC in subjects over expressing these proteins. Further, exogenous gal-1 and gal-3 significantly increased survival, proliferation and angiogenesis in OSCC cell lines.
Conclusions: Serum levels of gal-1 and gal-3 may serve as plausible markers for oral squamous cell carcinoma and may be useful in screening population at a higher risk.
Keywords: Biomarker; Galectins; Oral cancer; ROC; Risk association; Tumour growth.
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