Role of Galectin-9 and Sonic Hedgehog Expressions in the Early Diagnosis and Prognosis of Colorectal Cancer

ObjectiveTo investigate the association between the expression levels of galectin-9 and sonic hedgehog (SHH) and the risk of occurrence and prognosis in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). MethodsA total of 210 patients with CRC treated at Qingdao Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital between May 2020 and May 2022 were retrospectively included. The expressions of galectin-9 and SHH in tumor tissues were measured. Logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between galectin-9/SHH expression and CRC risk. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to evaluate the predictive value of galectin-9 and SHH for CRC risk and prognosis. ResultsThe expression levels of galectin-9 and SHH differed significantly between cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues (PSHH in evaluating CRC risk were 0.809 (95% CI: 0.751-0.868) and 0.865 (95% CI: 0.817-0.912), respectively. Galectin-9 expression was lower in patients with T3-4 stage, N1-3 stage, M1 stage, or poor differentiation (PPSHH expression and TNM stage (r=－0.184 and －0.362, respectively; PSHH expression was positively correlated with TNM stage (r = 0.407, PSHH expression were observed between patients with poor prognosis and those with good prognosis (P3-4 stage (OR= 4.609, 95% CI: 1.461-14.535), poor differentiation (OR=3.337, 95% CI: 1.297-8.582), and high SHH expression (OR= 2.067, 95% CI: 1.162-3.678) were risk factors for poor prognosis (PPSHH for evaluating CRC prognosis were 0.769 (95% CI: 0.550-0.798) and 0.734 (95% CI: 0.603-0.866), respectively. ConclusionGalectin-9 and SHH are lowly and highly expressed, respectively, in CRC. Their expression levels are associated with tumor differentiation, invasion, and metastasis, and hold predictive value for the risk and prognosis of CRC patients.