Galectin Expression Profiling Identifies Galectin-1 and Galectin-9Δ5 as Prognostic Factors in Stage I/II Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Approximately 30-40% of the patients with early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) will present with recurrent disease within two years of resection. Here, we performed extensive galectin expression profiling in a retrospective study using frozen and paraffin embedded tumor tissues from 87 stage I/II NSCLC patients. Our data show that galectin mRNA expression in NSCLC is confined to galectin-1, -3, -4, -7, -8, and -9. Next to stage, univariable Cox regression analysis identified galectin-1, galectin-9FL and galectin-9 Delta 5 as possible prognostic markers. Kaplan-Meier survival estimates revealed that overall survival was significantly shorter in patients that express galectin-1 above median levels, i.e., 23.0 (2.9-43.1) vs. 59.9 (47.7-72.1) months (p = 0.020) as well as in patients that express galectin-9 Delta 5 or galectin-9FL below the median, resp. 59.9 (41.9-75.9) vs. 32.8 (8.7-56.9) months (p = 0.014) or 23.2 (20.4-46.8) vs. 58.9 (42.9-74.9) months (p = 0.042). All three galectins were also prognostic for disease free survival. Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that for OS, the most significant prognostic model included stage, age, gal-1 and gal-9 Delta 5 while the model for DFS included stage, age and gal-9 Delta 5. In conclusion, the current study confirms the prognostic value of galectin-1 and identifies galectin-9 Delta 5 as novel potential prognostic markers in early stage NSCLC. These findings could help to identify early stage NSCLC patients that might benefit most from adjuvant chemotherapy.