A statistically significant difference between the expression of Gal-8 in the three histological subtypes could be found (p = 0.024; ρ = − 0.208 with p = 0.002; Table 3), with a median IRS of 4 for the squamous cell carcinomas, compared to a median IRS of 2 in the group of the adenocarcinomas. Here, LGALS8 is linked to adenocarcinoma.