Abstract
BackgroundThe aim of the study was to investigate the effect associated with the protein expression of VEGF, JAK2 and STAT3 on the clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis in the development and progression of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).MethodsFifty NPC patients in addition to 20 patients with chronic nasopharyngitis (CNP) were recruited for the purposes of the study. Western blotting and immunohistochemistry methods were employed to evaluate the protein expressions of JAK2, STAT3 and VEGF in the NPC and CNP tissues, with their respective correlations with the clinicopathologic characteristics of NPC patients subsequently analyzed. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient and Kaplan–Meier method were conducted to evaluate the respective correlations of JAK2, STAT3 and VEGF with NPC as well as the survival rates of patients with NPC. Cox regression analyses was performed in determine the prognostic NPC factors.ResultsCompared with the CNP tissues, the NPC tissues exhibited elevated levels of JAK2, STAT3 and VEGF which were subsequently determined to share a positive correlation with T stages, lymph node metastasis (LNM), N stages and clinical stages, while a negative correlation with survival rates were observed in the NPC patients. Positive correlations between the expressions of JAK2, STAT3 and VEGF were detected among the NPC tissues. NPC patients survival time with negative expressions of JAK2, STAT3 and VEGF were observed to be longer than that of NPC patients with positive expressions of JAK2, STAT3 and VEGF. T stage, LNM, N stage, clinical stage. The expressions of JAK2, STAT3 and VEGF were discovered to be independent risk factors associated with the prognosis of patients with NPC.ConclusionThe results obtained from the present study support the notion that higher expressions of JAK2, STAT3 and VEGF may be correlated with the clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis of patients suffering from NPC.
Highlights
The aim of the study was to investigate the effect associated with the protein expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), Janus kinase 2 gene (JAK2) and Signal activator and transducer of transcription 3 (STAT3) on the clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis in the development and progression of nasopharyn‐ geal carcinoma (NPC)
JAK2, STAT3 and VEGF expressed at a high level in NPC tissues The immunohistochemical staining results revealed that the positive expression of JAK2 in NPC tissues were predominately localized in the cytoplasm with dark brown color, very low levels were expressed in the chronic nasopharyngitis (CNP) tissues (Fig. 1a)
The positive expression of STAT3 in NPC tissues mainly exhibited in the cytoplasm and rarely in the capsule with dark brown, while meagre staining was observed in CNP tissues (Fig. 1b)
Summary
The aim of the study was to investigate the effect associated with the protein expression of VEGF, JAK2 and STAT3 on the clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis in the development and progression of nasopharyn‐ geal carcinoma (NPC). Overexpressed epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has been widely reported to be commonly observed in cases of NPC [6]. What’s more, overexpressed EGFR in primary tumors has been linked with tumor recurrence, metastasis, and poor survival in patients suffering from NPC [7]. Previous studies have suggested that EGFR plays a vital role in the development and progression of NPC [5]. While several biomarkers have been employed in the determination of the prognosis and metastasis of NPC patients, the molecular mechanisms regarding the development and progression of NPC remain largely unknown
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