Prevalence of Galectins Family Expression in Epithelial Ovarian Tumors

Abstract

Ovarian cancer is fifth most common Gynecological cancer. Ovarian cancer is the 2nd leading cause of cancer related death among females. The lifetime risk of developing ovarian cancer is 1.3%. The average age of diagnosis is 63, younger in women with hereditary cancers. The majority (95%) of ovarian cancers originate from the surface epithelium of the ovary or from the fallopian tube with serous histology 75% and Other types are less common include sex cord stromal tumors and germ cell tumors. Galectins are a class of proteins that bind specifically to β-galactoside sugars. They are also termed S-type lectins due to their dependency on disulphide bonds for stability and carbohydrate binding. There have been about 15 galectins discovered in mammals, encoded by the LGALS genes, which are numbered in a consecutive manner. Unlike the majority of lectins they are not membrane bound, but soluble proteins with both intra- and extracellular functions. They have distinct but overlapping distributions found primarily in the cytosol, nucleus, extracellular matrix or in circulation. In this work we aim to determine the galectins family expression in epithelial ovarian tumors in adult patients and to investigate the association of galectins expression levels with the patients’ clinical features. All patients were categorized according to their clinicolaboratory data, cytology and tumor markers. A fresh ovarian tissue sample of about 2x2 cm was collected from diagnosed adult female patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. The total cellular RNA from ovarian tissue sample was extracted and synthesized to c-DNA. The qRt- PCR was done for the expression of LGALS1, 3, 4, 8 and 9. Galectin-2 was also analyzed, but the PCR didn’t achieve CT value for further calculation. This could be an indication of very low expression. LGALS1 was upregulated with (78.6%), LGALS3 (92.9%), LGALS4 (66.1%), LGALS8 (87.5%), and LGALS9 (85.7%). LGAL1 significant to FIGO Staging with (p=0.002) showing upregulation with Stage IIB and stage IIC and cytology with (p=0.060) showing upregulation mostly with serous subtype. LGALS3 was statistically significant with parity with (p=0.005) showing upregulation with multipara. Also showed significant to surgical co-morbidities with (p=0.005) showing overexpression in patients with surgical co-morbidities and lymph node metastasis with (p=0.044) showing overexpression with lymph node metastasis. Also liner regression analysis between LGALS4 and CA19.9 showed correlation. LGALS9 was statistically significant with lymph node metastasis with (p=0.013) showing overexpression with lymph node metastasis. Also showed significant to FIGO Staging with (p=0.002) showing overexpression with Stage IIB, Stage IIC and IIIB. Conclusion: The expression of galactins family were overexpressed in epithelial ovarian tumor. The presence of over expressed galectin1,4, and 9 in higher FIGO staged disease and lymph node metastasis. Galectins 1,4, and 9 overexpression is a poor prognostic factor that enhances the development, progression, and metastasis