ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the relationship between galectin-3 and tumour metastasis, and the future prospect of galectin-3 in clinic.Methods Related articles were reviewed. Results Galectin-3, a member of the ?-galactoside-binding proteins, is expressed widely in epithelial and immune cells, and interacts with intracellular glycoproteins, cell surface molecules and extracellular matrix proteins. Galectin-3 is involved in various biological phenomena including cell growth, adhesion, differentiation, angiogenesis and apoptosis, and is associated with invasion and metastasis of tumour. Conclusion Because of the correlation between galectin-3 and tumour invasion and metastasis, galectin-3 may act as the diagnostic marker for tumour metastasis and one of the target proteins for cancer treatment.