The expressions and significance of Gal-3 and MUC1 in colorectal cancer

Objective: To explore the expressions and significance of galectin-3 (Gal-3) and mucin-1 (MUC1) in colorectal cancer. Methods: We obtained 45 cases of colorectal cancer surgically treated in our hospital between December 2009 and June 2010. Another 20 cases of normal tissue adjacent carcinoma served as controls. The expressions of Gal-3 and MUC1 were detected by immunohistochemistry and their relationship with clinicopathological features was analyzed. Results: The positive rate of Gal-3 was 73.3% in colorectal cancer and 15.0% in the normal tissue adjacent carcinoma; Gal-3 expression was significantly higher in colorectal cancer than in the normal tissue adjacent carcinoma (P<0.05). The positive expression rate of Gal-3 was 61.5% (16/26) in non-lymph node metastasis and 89.5% (17/19) in metastatic lymph node, with a significant difference (P=0.0363). The positive expression rate of MUC1 was 54.5% in colorectal cancer and 0% in normal tissue adjacent carcinoma, the former being significantly higher than the latter(P<0.05). The positive expression rate of MUC1 was 34.6% (9/26) in non-lymph node metastasis and 84.2% (16/19) in metastatic lymph node, with a significant difference (P=0.0009). Conclusion: Gal-3 and MUC1 are overexpressed in colorectal cancer, which suggests that they may be involved in carcinogenesis and metastasis of colorectal cancer.