Circulating levels of galectin-9 are a potential biomarker of survival in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND

The immune system is recognized to have therapeutic potential to destroy cancer cells. Soluble T-cell immunoglobulin mucin domain-3 (sTIM-3) and its ligand galectin 9 (Gal-9) cause suppression of cytokine production, cell cycle arrest and cell death. sTIM-3 and Gal-9 levels may have prognostic implications in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.

METHODS

This prospective cohort study was performed at Instituto de Medicina Integral Prof. Fernando Figueira, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. Fifty-eight patients were diagnosed with advanced NSCLC from January 2019 to January 2020.

RESULTS

The age median was of 64.0 years. Soluble galectin-9 (sGal-9) levels in the smokers compared to nonsmoker patients (p < 0.0001). By using the receiver operating characteristic curve, we found that a baseline of 1694 pg/mL (cutoff). sGAL9 with specificity (72.2%), sensitivity (83.2%) and area under the curve = 0.8497 (p < 0.0004). Until 18.2 months, 46.8% and 72.9% were alive in the sGAL9 and sGAL9 groups, respectively (log-rank test; p = 0.02). The median survival was 15.9 months for sGAL9 (≤1694 pg/mL).

CONCLUSION

This study indicated an association of tobacco with the release of circulating sGal-9 levels and the accuracy of sGal-9 as a potential biomarker predictive of survival time in advanced NSCLC patients. Furthermore, sGal-9 has may be a potential therapeutic target in the advanced NSCLC.