Galectins and Cancer

Dear Colleagues,

Galectins are being increasingly recognized as an important family of regulators in cancer development, progression and metastasis. Changes in galectin expression are commonly seen in cancer and stroma cells and are often associated with poorer prognosis and metastasis. Galectins appear intracellularly, extracellularly, and in the circulation. Increasing evidence shows that galectins are involved in the regulation of almost every step in the process of cancer development, progression and metastasis, including cancer cell proliferation, adhesion, invasion, angiogenesis, immune response, and metastasis. Galectin interaction with divergent binding ligands such as growth factor receptors, adhesion molecules, mucin proteins and death receptors have been identified in various cancers and in the tumour-associated microenvironment. The development of galectin-targeted therapeutic agents for cancer treatment are currently being explored by a number of research labs and biotech/bio-pharma companies, and some have shown promising results in early clinical trials.

This Special Issue of Biomolecules, entitled “Galectins and cancer”, focuses on recent findings regarding the actions of galectin family members in the regulation of cancer development, progression or metastasis. We invite colleagues to submit their recent discoveries (reviews or research articles) to this Special Issue. Reports on the recent development of galectin inhibitors as cancer therapeutic agents are also encouraged.

Prof. Dr. Lu-Gang Yu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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