LGALS9 and systemic sclerosis: The patients with SSc who died within 10 years after disease onset had higher serum galectin-9 levels (n = 4, 26.8 ± 7.0 pg/ml) than those who survived at least 10 years (n = 58, 20.0 ± 8.8 pg/ml), although the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.05).