Li-cadherin is inversely correlated with galectin-3 expression in gastric cancer.

The aims of this study were to examine the expressions of Li-cadherin and Galectin-3 in gastric cancer, and the correlation between Li-cadherin and Galectin-3 in gastric cancer was also analyzed. The present study investigated the expression level of Li-cadherin and Galectin-3 by immunohistochemistry and semiquantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and correlated this with clinicopathologic parameters in 91 cases of gastric cancer. The correlation between expression levels of Li-cadherin and Galectin-3 was analyzed by Spearman correlation analysis. The expression level of Li-cadherin mRNA was correlated to differentiation and lymph node metastasis, and the expression level of Galectin-3 was related to TNM staging, differentiation and lymph node metastasis. On Spearman correlation analysis, a definitive negative correlation was found between the expression levels of Li-cadherin and Galectin-3 in gastric cancerous tissues. We postulate that interaction between Li-cadherin and Galectin-3 may play an important role in the development of gastric cancer.