Prostate Cancer Biomarkers with a Focus on Galectin-3 - Emerging Clinical and Therapeutic Implications

Sep 22, 2026

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Prostate cancer management has evolved with biomarker-driven strategies, yet biological heterogeneity, adaptive resistance, and an immunosuppressive microenvironment limit their efficacy. Galectin-3 (Gal-3) has emerged as a central node in prostate cancer pathobiology, influencing tumor survival, metastasis, and immune escape. This review delineates Gal-3’s dual role as a biomarker and a therapeutic target, including diagnostic unmet needs, Gal-3 multifunctional biology, Gal-3–PSA regulatory interfaces, emerging therapies, and a translational roadmap for standardized assays and biomarker-enriched trials.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

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Pages20

Reading Time50 min

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Review Prostate Cancer Biomarkers with a Focus on Galectin-3: Emerging Clinical and Therapeutic Implications Hiba Narvel 1,*, Mohammad Arfat Ganiyani 2, Adnan Gulam Nabi 3, Aman Goyal 4, Rohan Garje 2, Sanjay Srinivasan 5, Hafiz Ahmed 5 and Deepak Kilari 1 Received: 9 March 2026 Revised: 20 April 2026 Accepted: 27 April 2026 Published: 9 May 2026 Copyright: © 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. 1 Department of Hematology and Oncology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA 2 Department of Hematology and Oncology, Miami Cancer Institute, Baptist Health South Florida, Miami, FL 33176, USA; [mohammadarfat.ganiyani@baptisthealth.net](mohammadarfat.ganiyani@baptisthealth.net) (M.A.G.) 3 Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences, Loni 413736, India 4 Department of Internal Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA 5 GlycoMantra Inc., Baltimore, MD 21227, USA; sanjay@glycomantra.com (S.S.) * [Correspondence: hnarvel@mcw.edu](Correspondence: hnarvel@mcw.edu); Tel.: +1-3474792358 Simple Summary Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the United States. While in some patients prostate cancer grows slowly and may never cause harm, in others, cancer can be aggressive and life-threatening. A major challenge is distinguishing between them early and choosing the right option for each person. Doctors currently rely on tests like PSA and genetic profiling, but these tools are imperfect, often expensive, and fail to predict which cancers will behave aggressively or respond to treatment. This review focuses on galectin-3, a protein that plays an important role in how prostate cancer grows, spreads, and evades the immune system. Galectin-3 can help cancer cells survive, travel to bones, and resist standard treatments. Importantly, galectin-3 can be measured in blood or tumor tissue, making it a potential biomarker. Overall, galectin-3 represents a promising new approach to aid in the care of prostate cancer. Abstract Prostate cancer (PCa) management has evolved with biomarker-driven strategies, yet biological heterogeneity, adaptive resistance, and an immunosuppressive microenvironment limit their efficacy. Galectin-3 (Gal-3) has emerged as a central node in PCa pathobiology, influencing tumor survival, metastasis, and immune escape. This review comprehensively reviews Gal-3’s dual role as a biomarker and a therapeutic target. We first delineate the limitations of the current diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive biomarkers in PCa, establishing the unmet need. We then elucidate the multifunctional biology of Gal-3, detailing its compartment-specific roles in anti-apoptosis, angiogenesis, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, and, notably, its function as a master regulator of immunosuppression. The interaction between Gal-3 and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is explored as a key regulatory interface. Furthermore, we catalog and analyze emerging Gal-3-targeted therapies, emphasizing their rationale for combination with immune checkpoint blockade to reverse therapeutic resistance. Finally, we outline a translational roadmap, advocating for standardized Gal-3 biomarker assays and biomarker-enriched clinical trials. Integrating Gal-3 into the PCa precision medicine toolkit offers a novel strategy to address heterogeneity and improve therapeutic durability. Keywords: prostate cancer; galectin-3 (Gal-3); precision oncology; biomarker; tumor microenvironment; therapeutic targeting 1. Introduction Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men over the age of 60 and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States (U.S.) [1] . The American Cancer Society projects approximately 333,830 new cases and 36,320 deaths from PCa in 2026 in the U.S. [2] . PCa is a biologically heterog

FAQs

Why are current prostate cancer biomarkers insufficient?

Current tests like PSA and genetic profiling are limited by imperfect specificity/sensitivity and high cost, and they often fail to reliably predict aggressive behavior or treatment response.

What roles does galectin-3 play in prostate cancer?

Galectin-3 influences tumor survival, metastasis, and immune escape, with functions linked to anti-apoptosis, angiogenesis, and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, including regulation of immunosuppression.

How can galectin-3 be used clinically?

Galectin-3 can be measured in blood or tumor tissue as a potential biomarker, and it can also be targeted therapeutically, including rationale for combining with immune checkpoint blockade to counter resistance.

Sep 22, 2026

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