Expression of Galectin-3 and beta-catenin related with Wnt in colorectal carcinoma

Objective:To study the expressions of Galectin-3 and β-catenin proteins in colon carcinoma and the relationship with clinical pathologic features.Methods:The expressions of Galectin-3 and β-catenin proteins were detected by immuno-histochemical technique in 70 cases of colon carcinoma,20 cases of adenoma and 20 cases of normal colon.The relationship with clinicopathologic features was analyzed.Results:There are 43 cases which express positive stain of Galectin-3 in cytoplasm while 12 cases positive stain in nucleus from 70 cases.There are 58 cases with abnormal expression of β-catenin protein from 70 cases.The expressions of Galectin-3 and β-catenin proteins were correlated with differentiation,lymph node metastasis,and TNM stage,but were unrelated to size of tumor or the age of patients.Conclusion:Galectin-3 is a novel signal protein in Wnt/β-catenin pathway,and it plays an important role for the development of colon carcinoma by binding to β-catenin.