Objective    To investigate the galectin-3 expression in squamous carcinioma of esophagus and analyze its relationship with clinicopathological characteristics.     Methods    S-P immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of galectin-3 in 80 paraffin-embedded specimens of esophageal carcinoma and 22 specimens of normal tissues adjacent to the benigh lesions of esophagus. RT-PCR was performed to detect galectin-3 mRNA expression in 36 pairs of fresh squamous carcinoma tissues and corresponding adjacent normal mucosa.     Results    Out of 80 specimens of squamous carcinoma of esophagus

62 specimens had positive expression of galectin-3

with the positive rate of 77.5% (62/80) that was significantly higher than 27.27% in normal esophageal tissues (6/22

P0.05). The expression of galectin-3 was related to pathological grading

infiltration and lymphatic node metastasis (P0.05). The positive rate of galectin-3 mRNA expression in esophageal carcinoma was 77.8％

while that of the corresponding adjacent normal tissues was 13.9％ (P0.05). The high expression of galectin-3 mRNA was correlated with poor differentiation

deep invasion and lymph node metastasis of esophageal carcinoma

but not with the patients’ age

gender and tumor size.      Conclusion    Galectin-3 plays a role in the genesis

development and metastasis of esophageal squamous carcinoma.