Previous studies of our laboratory that were dedicated to head and neck carcinomas revealed an association between the presence of Gal-1, -3 and -7 and the progression to malignancy, the inverse shifts between nuclear and cytoplasmic localization, and the upregulation of Gal-8 in hypopharyngeal and laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas. The gene discussed is LGALS8; the disease is head and neck carcinoma.