BACKGROUND Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) of the head and neck are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms with an increasing rate of mortality and morbidity. OSCCs are characterized by a high degree of local invasiveness and metastasis to cervical lymph nodes but show a lower rate of distant metastasis. Galectin-1 (Gal-1), a β-galactoside-binding lectin, is known to regulate tumor cell growth, angiogenesis, mediate cell-cell or cell-extracellular matrix adhesion and promote cancer cell migration. OBJECTIVE This study aims to evaluate the Gal-1 expression in different clinical stages and histological grades of OSCC. METHODS Forty histopathologically diagnosed cases of OSCC, including 16 cases of well-differentiated, 18 moderately differentiated and 6 poorly differentiated carcinomas, were included in the study group. METHODS The samples were subjected to staining using primary mouse monoclonal antibodies against Gal-1 and visualized using polymer-HRP detection system. METHODS The nonparametric Mann-Whitney U-test and Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA test were used for the statistical analysis. RESULTS Gal-1 expression was higher in advanced stages of OSCC, and the results were statistically significant. Immunoexpression of Gal-1 increased with advancing histological grades of OSCC with statistically significant results. CONCLUSIONS Gal-1 plays an important role in invasion, metastasis and as a prognostic marker.