Galectin-3 rs4652 A>C polymorphism is associated with the risk of gastric carcinoma and P-glycoprotein expression level.

Galectin-3 serves an important function in cancer development and progression. The present study aimed to explore the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms in galectin-3, and the susceptibility to chemotherapy drug resistance of gastric carcinoma. The present study was a case-control study including 479 patients with gastric carcinoma and 458 cancer-free controls in a population from the Fujian province in Southeast China. Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry was used to determine the genotype of rs4644 and rs4652, and immunohistochemistry was used to identify the expression level of various proteins associated with chemotherapeutic drug resistance. The results revealed that individuals exhibiting the rs4652 CA/AA genotype had a significantly increased risk of developing gastric carcinoma compared with the rs4652 CC genotype (adjusted odds ratio, 1.51; 95% confidence interval, 1.05-2.18; adjusted P=0.03). In addition, it was demonstrated that there were significant differences in the P-glycoprotein expression level depending on rs4652 genotypic distributions (χ2=9.063; P=0.028). Therefore, the present study demonstrated that rs4652 single nucleotide polymorphisms of the galectin-3 gene contribute to the susceptibility to and chemotherapeutic drug resistance of gastric carcinoma.