title: Expression of p-STAT3 in human gastric carcinoma: significant correlation in tumour invasion and prognosis.
abstract: Signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs) belong to a family of transcription factors activated in response to cytokines and growth factors. Constitutive activation of STAT3 has been observed in a growing number of tumour-derived cell lines, as well as in tumor specimens from human cancers. Our aim was to determine the relationship between the expression of phosphorylated STAT3 (p-STAT3) and clinicopathological factors in human gastric adenocarcinoma. One-hundred and eleven cases of surgically resected human gastric adenocarcinoma were studied by immunohistochemistry. Fifty-five (49.5%) cases showed positive staining for the p-STAT3 proteins. The expression of p-STAT3 was significantly correlated with several clinicopathological factors. Moreover, expression of p-STAT3 was detected by Western blot analysis in 2 different kinds of cultured human gastric carcinoma cell lines and 4 cases of gastric carcinoma tissue obtained at surgery. Western blot analysis confirmed the presence of p-STAT3 in these specimens. In univariate survival analysis, p-STAT3 expression was associated with inferior survival (p<0.05). Constitutive activation of STAT3 may play an important role in the tumorigenesis of gastric adenocarcinoma, and the detailed mechanism of STAT3 signaling pathway in gastric adenocarcinoma deserves further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Tumor and Diagnostic Pathology, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yakata
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakayama
authors.forename: Ayumi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yoshizaki
authors.forename: Takafumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kusaba
authors.forename: Kenichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sekine
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D000236:Adenoma / Q000378:metabolism*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D011379:Prognosis; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor; C494086:STAT3 protein, human