Takemoto S, Ushijima K, Kawano K, Yamaguchi T, Terada A, Fujiyoshi N, Nishio S, Tsuda N, Ijichi M, Kakuma T, Kage M, Hori D, Kamura T
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kurume University School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan.
Br J Cancer. 2009 Sep 15;101(6):967-72. doi: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6605212. Epub 2009 Jul 28.
Stat3 is a member of the Janus-activated kinase/STAT signalling pathway. It normally resides in the cytoplasm and can be activated through phosphorylation. Activated Stat3 (p-Stat3) translocates to the nucleus to activate the transcription of several molecules involved in cell survival and proliferation. The constitutive activation of Stat3 has been shown in various types of malignancies, and its expression has been reported to indicate a poor prognosis. However, the correlation between the constitutive activation of Stat3 and the prognosis of cervical cancer patients has not been reported.
The immunohistochemical analysis of p-Stat3 expression was performed on tissues from 125 cervical squamous-cell carcinoma patients who underwent extended hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy, and the association of p-Stat3 expression with several clinicopathological factors and survival was investigated.
Positive p-Stat3 expression was observed in 71 of 125 (56.8%) cases and was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis, lymph vascular space invasion, and large tumour diameter (>4 cm) by Fisher's exact test. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that p-Stat3 expression was statistically indicative of a poor prognosis for overall survival (P=0.006) and disease-free survival (P=0.010) by log-rank test.
These data showed that p-Stat3 expression in cervical cancer acts as a predictor of poor prognosis.
Stat3是Janus激活激酶/STAT信号通路的成员。它通常存在于细胞质中，可通过磷酸化被激活。活化的Stat3（p-Stat3）转位至细胞核，以激活参与细胞存活和增殖的多种分子的转录。Stat3的组成性激活已在多种类型的恶性肿瘤中得到证实，据报道其表达提示预后不良。然而，Stat3的组成性激活与宫颈癌患者预后之间的相关性尚未见报道。
对125例行广泛性子宫切除术和盆腔淋巴结清扫术的宫颈鳞状细胞癌患者的组织进行p-Stat3表达的免疫组化分析，并研究p-Stat3表达与多种临床病理因素及生存的相关性。
125例患者中有71例（56.8%）观察到p-Stat3阳性表达，通过Fisher精确检验，其与淋巴结转移、淋巴血管间隙浸润及肿瘤直径较大（>4 cm）显著相关。Kaplan-Meier生存分析显示，通过对数秩检验，p-Stat3表达在统计学上提示总生存（P=0.006）和无病生存（P=0.010）预后不良。
这些数据表明，宫颈癌中p-Stat3表达可作为预后不良的预测指标。
