Prognostic and diagnostic significance of galectins in pancreatic cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Qiqing Sun; Yiyin Zhang; Mengqi Liu; Zeng Ye; Xianjun Yu; Xiaowu Xu; Yi Qin

doi:10.1186/s12935-019-1025-5

Prognostic and diagnostic significance of galectins in pancreatic cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Cancer Cell Int. 2019 Nov 21:19:309. doi: 10.1186/s12935-019-1025-5. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Qiqing Sun^#^{1

2

3

4}, Yiyin Zhang^#^{1

2

3

4}, Mengqi Liu^{1

2

3

4}, Zeng Ye^{1

2

3

4}, Xianjun Yu^{1

2

3

4}, Xiaowu Xu^{1

2

3

4}, Yi Qin^{1

2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ 1Department of Pancreatic Surgery, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, 200032 China.
² 2Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032 China.
³ 3Pancreatic Cancer Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032 China.
⁴ 4Shanghai Pancreatic Cancer Institute, Shanghai, 200032 China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Galectins constitute a family of β-galactoside-binding proteins, which influence various hallmarks of pancreatic cancer, including cell proliferation, invasion and migration; immune escape; and angiogenesis. Although many studies have concentrated on the role of galectins in pancreatic cancer, the results remain controversial. Hence, we performed a comprehensive meta-analysis to clarify the precise diagnostic and prognostic value of galectins in pancreatic cancer.

Methods: PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE and Web of Science were used to search related published literature up to July 2019. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs), diagnostic accuracy variables and related 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using STATA 14.0 software.

Results: Eleven studies including 1227 participants met our inclusion criteria. High expression of galectin family was not correlated with overall survival (OS) in pancreatic cancer (HR, 1.19; 95% CI 0.67-2.11). According to subgroup analysis, high levels of galectin-1 were significantly correlated with worse OS in pancreatic cancer (HR, 4.77; 95% CI 2.47-9.21), while high levels of tandem-repeat galectins (galectin-4 or galectin-9) predicted both better OS (HR, 0.63; 95% CI 0.46-0.86) and disease-free survival (DFS) (HR, 0.63; 95% CI 0.48-0.83). The expression levels of galectin-3 did not directly correlate with prognosis (HR, 0.99; 95% CI 0.40-2.46). The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, and negative likelihood ratios of galectin-3 were 0.64 (95% CI 0.41-0.82), 0.76 (95% CI 0.59-0.88), 2.70 (95% CI 1.21-6.1), and 0.47 (95% CI 0.23-0.98), respectively. The area under the curve (AUC) of galectin-3 was 0.77.

Conclusion: Taken together, our results suggest that high expression of galectin-1 and low levels of galectin-4 or galectin-9 are predictors of worse prognosis in pancreatic cancer patients. The expression of galectin-3 was not directly related to OS and other clinical characteristics. Although galectin-3 exhibited some diagnostic value in patients with pancreatic cancer in this meta-analysis, clinical application prospects remain to be validated. Further studies are warranted to confirm and strengthen these findings.

Keywords: Diagnosis; Galectins; Meta-analysis; Pancreatic cancer; Prognosis.

Publication types

Review