Clinical impact of phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, epidermal growth factor receptor, p53, and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 expression in resected adenocarcinoma of lung by using tissue microarray.
BACKGROUND
The signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) play a key role in the downstream pathway of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in nonsmall cell lung cancer and promote cell proliferation, invasion, and angiogenesis. The clinical significance of phosphorylated STAT3 (pSTAT3), EGFR, p53, and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR-1) expression in patients with completely resected lung adenocarcinoma was evaluated to determine the effects of pSTAT3 in tumor angiogenesis and proliferation.


METHODS
The expressions of pSTAT3, EGFR, p53, and VEGFR-1 were evaluated by immunohistochemical staining of tissue microarrays from 162 samples of resected lung adenocarcinoma.


RESULTS
The median age of the 162 patients was 62 years, the median disease-free survival was 41.7 months, and the median OS (OS) was 80.2 months. Expression of pSTAT3, EGFR, p53, and VEGFR-1 was detected in 51.2%, 71%, 35.2%, and 35.2% of the samples, respectively. pSTAT3 expression was correlated significantly with VEGFR-1 expression (P = .025). The coexpression of pSTAT3 and VEGFR-1 was correlated with increased lymph node involvement (P = .021) and a trend toward a short OS (P = .085). In multivariate analysis, the expression levels of p53 and VEGFR-1 were identified as independent prognostic factors that affected OS.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study suggested that pSTAT3 and VEGFR-1 expression may play roles in the tumor progression and angiogenesis of lung adenocarcinoma. Further studies are needed, however, to uncover the detailed mechanisms that underlie the roles of these proteins in lung adenocarcinoma.
Kim
Hyeong Su
HS
Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Hallym University Medical Center, Hallym University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Park
Yeon Hee
YH
Lee
Jeeyun
J
Ahn
Jin-Seok
JS
Kim
Jinkook
J
Shim
Young Mog
YM
Kim
Jung Han
JH
Park
Keunchil
K
Han
Joungho
J
Ahn
Myung-Ju
MJ
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000098:blood supply / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D011379:Prognosis; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D040281:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1 / Q000378:metabolism*
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor; C494086:STAT3 protein, human; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D066246:ErbB Receptors; D040281:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1