Introduction/Background Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynaecological cancer and the second most common female malignancy in the world. Gal-9 is a ligand for TIM-3 which is on the surface of T cells, eosinophils or dendritic cells. The high concentration of Gal-9 may bring to the apoptosis of the activated T cells. Gal-9 has been proven to play a therapeutic role in autoimmune disease. Endometrial cancer management remains challenging and important is deeper understanding of the immunology diversity of this cancer.

The study aimed to evaluate the concentrations of soluble Gal-9 in the plasma of patients with endometrial cancer and healthy subjects in the aspect of its clinical significance

Methodology In the present study, we evaluated the concentrations of soluble Gal-9 in the peripheral blood (PB) and of both patients with endometrial cancer (n = 79) and healthy subjects (n = 19) using ELISA.

Results In our study, we observed a significantly higher (p<0.0001) concentration of sGal-9 in the plasma of EC patients in comparison to the plasma obtained from healthy subjects. The concentration of sGal-9 in plasma in the early (I/II) and late (III/IV) stages of EC was significantly higher than that detected in the control group. Additionally, we demonstrated the correlation between the concentration of sGal-9 in the plasma and the age of EC patients. However, the concentration of sGal-9 in plasma did not differ significantly between early (I/II) and late (III/IV) FIGO stages of EC, and between grade I and II of EC. There was no relationship between the plasma concentration of sGal-9 and the body mass index of the patients.

Conclusion Increased sGal-9 levels might play an important role in the immune dysregulation of endometrial cancer and the level of sGal-9 could provide information about the activity and severity of EC.

Disclosures yes