BACKGROUND: The identification of cancer biomarkers can advance the possibility for early detection and better monitoring of tumor progression. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic and prognostic value of serum galectin-3(Gal-3) in patients with gastric cancer (GC).

MATERIAL AND METHODS: We measured serum Gal-3 levels using ELISA method in 87 patients with GC, 53 patients with benign gastric lesions, and 51 healthy controls.

RESULTS: Serum levels of Gal-3 in patients with GC were significantly higher than those in benign disease patients and healthy controls (P<0.001), but no difference was found between benign disease patients and healthy controls (P=0.635). Additionally, serum Gal-3 level was associated with lymph node metastasis (P=0.001) and distant metastasis (P<0.001), whereas it was not related to gender (P=0.204), age (P=0.269), tumor size (P=0.399), location (P=0.715), TNM stage (P=0.385), differentiation (P=0.135), or invasion depth (P=0.273). The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that overall survival rates in patients with high Gal-3 levels were not significantly different that those with low Gal-3 levels (P=0.099).

CONCLUSIONS: Results of the current study suggests that serum Gal-3 represents a potential diagnostic marker for patients with GC, and may be an adjunct to determine the individual prognosis of these patients.

Keywords: Biomarkers, Tumor - blood, Case-Control Studies, Galectin 3 - blood, ROC Curve