Cancer Research Program, Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain.
Unidad Asociada I+D+i Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM)-Institute of Biomedical Research of Barcelona (IIBB-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain.
Nat Rev Urol. 2019 Jul;16(7):433-445. doi: 10.1038/s41585-019-0183-5.
Advanced prostate and bladder cancer are two outstanding unmet medical needs for urological oncologists. The high prevalence of these tumours, lack of effective biomarkers and limited effective treatment options highlight the importance of basic research in these diseases. Galectins are a family of β-galactoside-binding proteins that are frequently altered (upregulated or downregulated) in a wide range of tumours and have roles in different stages of tumour development and progression, including immune evasion. In particular, altered expression levels of different members of the galectin family have been reported in prostate and bladder cancers, which, together with the aberrant glycosylation patterns found in tumour cells and the constituent cell types of the tumour microenvironment, can result in malignant transformation and tumour progression. Understanding the roles of galectin family proteins in the development and progression of prostate and bladder cancer could yield key insights to inform the clinical management of these diseases.
晚期前列腺癌和膀胱癌是泌尿外科肿瘤学家面临的两个重大未满足的医学需求。这些肿瘤的高发病率、缺乏有效的生物标志物和有限的有效治疗选择突出了基础研究在这些疾病中的重要性。半乳糖凝集素是一类β-半乳糖苷结合蛋白，在广泛的肿瘤中经常发生改变（上调或下调），在肿瘤发生和发展的不同阶段发挥作用，包括免疫逃逸。特别是，在前列腺癌和膀胱癌中已经报道了半乳糖凝集素家族不同成员的表达水平改变，与肿瘤细胞和肿瘤微环境组成细胞类型中发现的异常糖基化模式一起，可导致恶性转化和肿瘤进展。了解半乳糖凝集素家族蛋白在前列腺癌和膀胱癌发展和进展中的作用可能为这些疾病的临床管理提供关键的见解。
