Expression of T-cell immunoglobulin mucin-3 and galectin-9 in endometrial carcinoma and their relationship with recurrence and metastasis

Dong Yanyan; Zhao Liping; Fan Xiaofang; Zhao Jiaqian

doi:10.3760/j.issn.1673-4777.2026.05.019

Abstract：Objective To investigate the expression of T-cell immunoglobulin mucin-3(TIM3)and galectin-9 in endometrial carcinoma and their relationship with recurrence and metastasis.Methods A total of 124 patients with endometrial carcinoma who underwent surgery in Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital from February 2019 to October 2021 were selected,and 124 patients with benign endometrial hyperplasia in the same hospital during the same period were selected as the control group.RNAscope technique was used to detect the expression of TIM3 and galectin-9,and the correlation between their expression and postoperative recurrence and metastasis was systematically analyzed.Results In endometrial carcinoma tissues,the positive expression rates of TIM3 and Galectin-9 were 37.1％(46/124)and 29.8％(37/124),respectively,while no expression of TIM3 and Galectin-9 was detected in benign endometrial hyperplasia tissues(0/124).In patients with endometrial carcinoma who developed postoperative recurrence or metastasis,the positive expression rates of TIM3 and Galectin-9 were significantly higher than those in patients without recurrence and metastasis(all P＜0.05).Recurrence and metastasis of endometrial carcinoma were associated with lymph node metastasis(P=0.010)and myometrial invasion(P=0.040).The area under the curve(AUC)of TIM3 in predicting recurrence and metastasis of endometrial carcinoma was 0.872(95％confidence interval:0.837-0.926),with a sensitivity of 86.7％and a specificity of 79.5％;the AUC value of Galectin-9 was 0.830(95％confidence interval:0.814-0.905),with a sensitivity of 90.3％and a specificity of 64.5％.Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that positive expression of TIM3,positive expression of Galectin-9 and lymph node metastasis could be used as independent influencing factors for predicting recurrence and metastasis in patients with endometrial carcinoma(all P＜0.05).Conclusion TIM3 and Galectin-9 are specifically expressed in endometrial carcinoma tissues,and their high expression is significantly associated with the risk of postoperative recurrence and metastasis.