LGALS3 and cancer: On the other hand, when these markers were combined (e.g., galectin-3 + HBME-1; HBME-1 + CK-19; galectin-3 + HBME-1 + CK-19), several investigators reported improved sensitivity and specificity for the detection of cancer seen on tissue or FNA samples [101,102,103,104].