We provide evidence in this study showing that the interaction between cell surface MUC1 and recombinant galectin-3 at pathologically-relevant circulating galectin-3 concentrations increases homotypic aggregation of human colon and breast cancer cells as a result of cell surface clustering of MUC1 and consequent exposure of the homotypic cell adhesion molecules including E-cadherin. The gene discussed is LGALS3; the disease is breast carcinoma.