Li Chao, Wang Zhou, Liu Yan, Wang Peng, Zhang Runqi
Department of Thoracic Surgery, Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, P,R, China.
J Cardiothorac Surg. 2013 Apr 16;8:92. doi: 10.1186/1749-8090-8-92.
More and more evidences demonstrate the significance of Signal transducers and activators of transcription 3(STAT3) in oncogenesis and tumor development. However, little systematic researches have been reported on the correlation between STAT3 and thymic epithelial tumor (TET).
Expression of STAT3 protein in 80 thymic epithelial tumors was detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC). The difference of STAT3 expression was compared by the χ(2) test. Estimation of survival was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and the statistical differences were analyzed using the Log-rank test.
Positive expression of STAT3 protein was significantly associated with Masaoka staging and WHO histological classification (P<0.05), but not with age, gender, or tumor size. The rate of postoperative recurrence/metastasis was 33.33% in STAT3-positive tumors, compared with 4.55% in negative ones (P<0.05). 5-year survival was significantly lower in STAT3-positive subjects (61.11%) than in negative ones (97.73%) (P<0.01); In patients in Masaoka stage III or IV and WHO B3 or C, 5-year survival rate of subjects positive in STAT3 (35.00%, 35.00%) was statistically lower than that of the negative ones (92.31%, 91.67%). Cox regression analysis revealed that positive expression of STAT3 protein was an independent prognostic factor of thymic epithelial tumors (HR=9.325, P=0.044).
Positive expression of STAT3 protein increases along with the rising malignant degree of thymic epithelial tumors. It may be considered as an independent prognostic parameter with good prognostic value to evaluate the possibility of recurrence/metastasis in patients with thymic epithelial tumor.
越来越多的证据表明信号转导子和转录激活子3（STAT3）在肿瘤发生和肿瘤发展过程中具有重要意义。然而，关于STAT3与胸腺上皮肿瘤（TET）之间的相关性，鲜有系统性研究报道。
采用免疫组织化学（IHC）方法检测80例胸腺上皮肿瘤中STAT3蛋白的表达情况。通过χ²检验比较STAT3表达的差异。采用Kaplan-Meier法计算生存率，并使用Log-rank检验分析统计学差异。
STAT3蛋白的阳性表达与Masaoka分期和世界卫生组织（WHO）组织学分类显著相关（P<0.05），但与年龄、性别或肿瘤大小无关。STAT3阳性肿瘤的术后复发/转移率为33.33%，而阴性肿瘤为4.55%（P<0.05）。STAT3阳性患者的5年生存率（61.11%）显著低于阴性患者（97.73%）（P<0.01）；在Masaoka III期或IV期以及WHO B3或C级的患者中，STAT3阳性患者的5年生存率（35.00%，35.00%）在统计学上低于阴性患者（92.31%，91.67%）。Cox回归分析显示，STAT3蛋白的阳性表达是胸腺上皮肿瘤的独立预后因素（HR=9.325，P=0.044）。
STAT3蛋白的阳性表达随着胸腺上皮肿瘤恶性程度的升高而增加。它可被视为一个具有良好预后价值的独立预后参数，用于评估胸腺上皮肿瘤患者复发/转移的可能性。
