Bigotti G, Coli A, Del Vecchio M, Massi G
Dept. of Pathology, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2003 Jun;22(2):255-64.
Galectin-3 is an endogenous galactose-binding protein that is expressed in several normal and neoplastic tissues and is thought to play a role in a variety of biological processes. In this study we have examined the immunohistochemical expression pattern of galectin-3 in the most representative categories of soft tissue tumors consisting of 162 patients' specimens. Lesions were classified according to histogenetic criteria into 13 major categories. Overall, there were 18 fibrous tumors (13 benign, 4 intermediate and 1 malignant), 21 fibrohistiocytic tumors (5 benign, 11 intermediate and 5 malignant), 22 lipomatous tumors (14 benign and 8 malignant), 20 smooth muscle tumors (12 benign, 5 intermediate and 3 malignant), 2 skeletal muscle tumors (2 malignant), 19 vascular tumors (9 benign and 10 malignant), 6 perivascular tumors (5 benign and 1 malignant), 7 synovial tumors (4 benign and 3 malignant), 3 benign mesothelial tumors, 27 neural tumors (25 benign and 2 malignant), 7 cartilaginous and osseous tumors (4 benign and 3 malignant), 8 miscellaneous tumors and 2 high grade unclassified sarcomas. Galectin-3 was constantly expressed by almost all the major categories of benign, pseudosarcomatous and malignant soft tissue tumors. At this time no data are available in the literature about the expression of galectin-3 distribution in a wide range of soft tissue tumors. In the present work we discuss the significance and the possible usefulness of such findings.
半乳糖凝集素-3是一种内源性半乳糖结合蛋白，在多种正常组织和肿瘤组织中均有表达，被认为在多种生物学过程中发挥作用。在本研究中，我们检测了162例患者标本中最具代表性的软组织肿瘤类别中半乳糖凝集素-3的免疫组化表达模式。病变根据组织发生学标准分为13个主要类别。总体而言，有18例纤维性肿瘤（13例良性、4例中间性和1例恶性），21例纤维组织细胞性肿瘤（5例良性、11例中间性和5例恶性），22例脂肪瘤性肿瘤（14例良性和8例恶性），20例平滑肌肿瘤（12例良性、5例中间性和3例恶性），2例骨骼肌肿瘤（2例恶性），19例血管肿瘤（9例良性和10例恶性），6例血管周围肿瘤（5例良性和1例恶性），7例滑膜肿瘤（4例良性和3例恶性），3例良性间皮瘤，27例神经肿瘤（25例良性和2例恶性），7例软骨和骨肿瘤（4例良性和3例恶性），8例其他肿瘤和2例高级别未分类肉瘤。几乎所有主要类别的良性、假肉瘤性和恶性软组织肿瘤均持续表达半乳糖凝集素-3。目前文献中尚无关于半乳糖凝集素-3在广泛的软组织肿瘤中表达分布的数据。在本研究中，我们讨论了这些发现的意义及可能的用途。
