title: STAT3: A Novel Molecular Mediator of Resistance to Chemoradiotherapy.
abstract: Chemoradiotherapy (CRT) represents a standard treatment for many human cancers, frequently combined with radical surgical resection. However, a considerable percentage of primary cancers are at least partially resistant to CRT, which represents a substantial clinical problem, because it exposes cancer patients to the potential side effects of both irradiation and chemotherapy. It is therefore exceedingly important to determine the molecular characteristics underlying CRT-resistance and to identify novel molecular targets that can be manipulated to re-sensitize resistant tumors to CRT. In this review, we highlight much of the recent evidence suggesting that the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) plays a prominent role in mediating CRT-resistance, and we outline why inhibition of STAT3 holds great promise for future multimodal treatment concepts in oncology.
authors.affiliation: Department of General, Visceral and Pediatric Surgery, University Medicine Göttingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, Göttingen 37075, Germany. melanie.spitzner@med.uni-goettingen.de.
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Spitzner
authors.affiliation: Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. reinhard.ebner@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ebner
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy and Radiooncology, University Medicine Göttingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, Göttingen 37075, Germany. hendrik.wolff@med.uni-goettingen.de.
authors.forename: Hendrik A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Wolff
authors.affiliation: Department of General, Visceral and Pediatric Surgery, University Medicine Göttingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, Göttingen 37075, Germany. mghadimi@med.uni-goettingen.de.
authors.forename: B Michael
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Ghadimi
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, University Medicine Göttingen, Humboldtallee 34, Göttingen 37073, Germany. jwienan@uni-goettingen.de.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wienands
authors.affiliation: Department of General, Visceral and Pediatric Surgery, University Medicine Göttingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, Göttingen 37075, Germany. marian.grade@med.uni-goettingen.de.
authors.forename: Marian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grade