Adhesion/growth-regulatory tissue lectin galectin-1 in relation to angiogenesis/lymphocyte infiltration and prognostic relevance of stromal up-regulation in laryngeal carcinomas.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Galectin-1 has been found to modulate lymphocyte invasion in inflammation and to be involved in angiogenesis in models, thus prompting examination of its clinical relevance in laryngeal cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Immunohistochemical processing of tissue sections (n=53) from patients with stage I/II (n=35) and stage IV (n=18) laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) with a specific anti-galectin-1 antibody and monitoring of CD45/CD31 positivity was combined with quantitative morphometric analysis. RESULTS: Lectin presence in the tumor and endothelial cells was positively correlated, while a negative relationship to the number of CD45-positive lymphocytes was demonstrated. No association was seen with the extent of neovascularization. The mean optical density (MOD) of lectin-dependent staining in the tumor stroma was significantly increased compared to normal stroma. CONCLUSION: Galectin-1 was not associated with angiogenesis in the studied cohort while galectin-1 in endothelial cells may negatively influence lymphocyte invasion and the mean optical density for the stromal galectin-1 signal is up-regulated in tumors.