The Expression of Snail, Galectin-3, and IGF1R in the Differential Diagnosis of Benign and Malignant Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma

Abstract

Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of Snail, galectin-3, and IGF1R in benign and malignant pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PPGL) and explore their role in the diagnosis of malignant PPGL. Methods. We retrospectively collected and analyzed surgical tumor tissue from 226 patients initially diagnosed with PPGL who underwent surgery from Jan. 2009 to Jan. 2016 at West China Hospital, Sichuan University. We observed and quantified the expression of Snail, galectin-3, and IGF1R in paraffin-embedded samples by immunohistochemical staining. Results. The significant difference in survival time among the three groups (benign PHEO, benign PGL, and potentially malignant PPGL) was compared by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. The positive staining of Snail, galectin-3, and IGF1R in the benign PHEO group was significantly lower than that in the other three groups (P<0.001). The Kaplan-Meier survival plots indicated that the survival time of the patients with intense positive staining was significantly lower than that of the patients with weak positive staining. Conclusion. The intense expression of Snail, galectin-3, and IGF1R may be valuable indicators for the diagnosis of malignant PPGL.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Mesenchymal stem cells ameliorate renal fibrosis by galectin-3/Akt/GSK3β/Snail signaling pathway in adenine-induced nephropathy rat

“…Galectin-3 can regulate numerous biological processes, such as pre-mRNA splicing, cell growth, apoptosis, differentiation, transformation, angiogenesis, inflammation, fibrosis, and host defense [12]. Galectin-3 also plays a vital role as a diagnostic, and prognostic biomarker, or a therapeutic target for cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney diseases, autoimmune and nonautoimmune nephropathies, fatty liver, viral infection, autoimmune diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, and tumor formation [21,[27][28][29][30][31]. Galectin-3 can be secreted extracellularly but also can shuttle into the nucleus.…”

Increase of ASH1L Expression Promotes Hepatocellular Carcinoma Development and Affects the Prognosis of Liver Transplantation Patients

“…A total of 111 para n-embedded sections from clinically and pathologically diagnosed HCC patients who underwent liver transplantation (LT) were acquired from the Pathology Department of Tianjin First Central Hospital for use in this current study. The immunohistochemistry procedure was carried out using previously described methods [33].In brief, the para n-embedded sections were depara nized with xylene, rehydrated, treated with EDTA antigen retrieval buffer, and microwaved for antigen retrieval. Subsequently, the sections were immersed in 3% hydrogen peroxide to inhibit endogenous peroxidase function.…”

Potential Biomarkers of Metastasizing Paragangliomas and Pheochromocytomas

“…Another potential marker for malignancy in PPGLs, galectin-3 (LGALS3), was proposed in several studies [186][187][188]. LGALS3 is involved in numerous biological processes, such as cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell adhesion, and immunity, and plays an important role in tumor progression [189].…”

“…However, there have been no further studies validating these results. Several other possible IHC markers have been reported in several studies; these are vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) [33], mevalonate diphosphate decarboxylase (MVD) [33], N-cadherin (NCAD) [192], calsequestrin 2 (CASQ2) [129], insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) [135], phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT) [132], NME/NM23 nucleoside diphosphate kinase 1 (nm-23) [186], snail family transcriptional repressor 1 (Snail) [188], insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) [188], heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) [193], signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) [193], and pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDK1) [194]. However, data are limited and require validation in a large cohort of patients.…”