Alteration of galectin-1 during tumorigenesis of Opisthorchis viverrini infection-induced cholangiocarcinoma and its correlation with clinicopathology

Galectin-1 is a beta-galactoside-binding lectin to function in cell adhesion, proliferation, differentiation, and might be involved in tumor progression and metastasis. In the present study, the expression kinetics of galectin-1 during the tumorigenesis of a parasite Opisthorchis viverrini infection-induced cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) was investigated in model animal hamsters, and the expression was confirmed in human CCA cases. It was found that galectin-1 was overexpressed at mRNA and protein levels with the tumor progression. The mRNA expression was elevated in very early stage during tumorigenesis and the increase was time dependent. Galectin-1 protein expression profiles indicated that the increased expression was mainly located in the epithelium of extensively proliferated and hyperplasia small bile ducts at early stage of CCA development in model animal and mainly in the extensive tumor stroma tissues in both model animals and human CCA cases at later stage. The analysis of correlation of the overexpression with clinicopathology in human cases suggested that high expression of galectin-1 was associated with advanced stage and metastasis and with shorter cumulative overall survival of the patients. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that galectin-1 expression was of independent prognostic significance for CCA. Our results suggest that galectin-1 is likely involved in the tumorigenesis and expected to serve as a tumor stroma marker in diagnosis and prediction of metastasis and poor prognosis of the opisthorchiasis-associated CCA.