title: STAT transcript levels in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: STAT1 and STAT3 transcript correlations.
abstract: We investigated the transcript levels of genes STAT1, STAT3, STAT5A and STAT5B in the diagnostic samples of childhood ALL patients and compared them to those of healthy controls in order to characterize STAT gene expression in childhood ALL. As compared to controls, ALL patients exhibit markedly decreased transcript levels in all four genes investigated. STAT1 and STAT3 are significantly correlated in ALL patients as opposed to controls (P<0.0005). Patients with low transcript levels of STAT1 and STAT3 survive, regardless of minimal residual disease status and relapse. Lower transcript levels appear in association with a particularly high survival outcome in the ALL patients. The identification of aberrant expression profiles provides insight into the role of STAT genes in the development of childhood ALL and enables development of patient-tailored therapeutic approaches in cases of resistant disease.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Unit, First Department of Pediatrics, University of Athens Medical School, "Aghia Sofia" Children's Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Adamaki
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Unit, First Department of Pediatrics, University of Athens Medical School, "Aghia Sofia" Children's Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsotra
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Unit, First Department of Pediatrics, University of Athens Medical School, "Aghia Sofia" Children's Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Spiros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vlahopoulos
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Unit, First Department of Pediatrics, University of Athens Medical School, "Aghia Sofia" Children's Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Archontis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zampogiannis
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Athens Medical School, 11527 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Athanasios G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Papavassiliou
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Unit, First Department of Pediatrics, University of Athens Medical School, "Aghia Sofia" Children's Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece. Electronic address: mmoschov@med.uoa.gr.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moschovi
keywords: Precursor cell lymphoblastic leukemia–lymphoma; STAT1 transcription factor; STAT3 transcription factor; STAT5 transcription factor