O.V. Kovaleva1, Yu.B. Kuzmin2, A.A. Alferov3, A.N. Gratchev4, S.O. Kochkina5, L.V. Akulenko6, N.N. Zybina7, O.O. Janushevich8, Z.Z. Mammadli9, I.S. Stilidi10, N.E. Kushlinskii11

1–5,9–11 N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology of the Ministry of Health of Russia (Moscow, Russia)

2,3,6,8,11 A.I. Evdokimov Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry
of the Ministry of Health of Russia (Moscow, Russia)

7 A.M. Nikiforov All-Russian Center for Emergency and Radiation Medicine Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia (St. Petersburg, Russia)

Formulation of the problem. Galectins are galactoside-binding lectin involved in numerous cellular processes including apoptosis, adhesion, migration, tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis.

The purpose of the work is a comparative study of the content of galectin-3 and -9 in the blood serum of healthy donors and patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) in association with the main clinical and morphological characteristics of the disease and prognosis.

Results. Serum galectin-9 levels fluctuated widely in 140 examined patients with CRC, however, the median content of the marker in the blood serum of patients with CRC was significantly higher (11.1 ng/ml) than in the control group of healthy donors (9.61 ng/ml; р=0.05). At the same time, the data of ROC analysis do not allow the use of determining the levels of serum galectin-9 in the diagnosis of CRC.

A more significant difference was noted for galectin-3, namely, its median content in the healthy donor group was 8.2 (6.0-10.17) ng/ml, while in the group of patients with CRC it was 12.6 (9.4-16.2) ng/ml (p<0.0001). The study did not reveal significant associations with the main clinical and morphological characteristics of CRC. Correlation analysis between the content of galectin-3 and galectin-9 revealed a strong direct correlation between the content of these proteins in the circulation of both CRC patients (r=0.391; p<0.0001) and healthy donors (r=0.700; p=0.0006).A significant relationship was found between low values of galectin-9 (<11.1 ng/ml) and poor prognosis of overall survival.

Practical significance. Baseline pre-treatment serum levels of galectin-9 in CRC patients can be used as a prognostic marker in assessing overall survival: serum galectin-9 levels <11.1 ng/mL indicate a poor survival prognosis.

Kovaleva O.V., Kuzmin Yu.B., Alferov A.A., Gratchev A.N., Kochkina S.O., Akulenko L.V., Zybina N.N., Janushevich O.O., Mammadli Z.Z., Stilidi I.S., Kushlinskii N.E. Serum galectin-3 and -9 and clinical and morphological characteristics of colorectal cancer. Technologies of Living Systems. 2023. V. 20. № 3. Р. 17-24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18127/j20700997-202303-03 (In Russian).

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