title: Stat3 expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma: association with clinicopathological parameters and survival.
abstract: The present study sought to explore the occurrence of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (n=135) and its potential relationship with clinicopathological parameters and survival. Stat3 expression was studied by immunohistochemistry. Cytoplasmic or nuclear localization of Stat3 was observed in 62% of patients, whereas only nuclear Stat3 expression was found in 44%. Stat3 positivity in early-stage patients was 45% compared to 79% in advanced-stage patients. However, early-stage Stat3-positive patients showed a gradual increase in staining intensity, with intense staining seen in 52% of the tumors compared to 18% in Stat3-positive advanced-stage patients, where a gradual decrease in intensity expression was observed (p=0.001). Stat3 showed a significant positive correlation with disease stage (p=0.001), nodal status (p=0.033) and tumor size (p=0.001). Multivariate survival analysis using the Cox proportional hazard regression model showed that nuclear Stat3 was a significant independent prognosticator for both relapse-free survival (p=0.014) and overall survival (p=0.042) in early-stage patients. Our results indicated that Stat3 activation is an early event in oral squamous cell carcinoma and represents a potential risk factor for poor prognosis in early-stage patients.
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Endocrinology, Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute, Asarwa, Ahmedabad, India. dmegcri@yahoo.com
authors.forename: N G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: T I
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Trivedi
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Tankshali
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Goswami
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Jetly
authors.forename: T P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Kobawala
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Shukla
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Verma
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor; C494086:STAT3 protein, human