Abstract
Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) promotes tumor progression in many types of cancer. In this study, we analyzed the prognostic value of this marker in human intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). Using real-time PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry assays, we found that STAT3 is overexpressed in ICC patients. STAT3 expression correlated with several clinicopathological features, including tumor size, pathological satellite, vascular invasion, undifferentiated-type histology, lymph node metastasis and TNM stage in two independent cohorts of ICC patients. Patients with high STAT3 levels had a poor prognosis in terms of overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Multivariate survival analysis indicated that STAT3 is an independent prognostic factor for OS and DFS. Furthermore, we observed that STAT3 overexpression promotes the invasion, metastasis and proliferation of ICC cells in vitro and in vivo, and also promotes STAT3 phosphorylation. These findings suggest that STAT3 expression correlated negatively with surgical outcome and inhibition of STAT3 expression may constitute a novel target for the treatment of ICC patients.
Highlights
Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) arises from malignant transformation of epithelial tissue in the small bile ducts, and is the second most common primary cancer of the liver
These findings suggest that Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) expression correlated negatively with surgical outcome and inhibition of STAT3 expression may constitute a novel target for the treatment of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) patients
Our results indicate that the expression of STAT3 is significantly correlated with several clinical characteristics and is able to predict the outcome of ICC patients after surgical resection
Summary
Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) arises from malignant transformation of epithelial tissue in the small bile ducts, and is the second most common primary cancer of the liver. The prognosis of ICC is very poor, with the median survival for patients who do not undergo surgery being 6 months, and the 5-year survival rate for patients following complete resection being only 20%–40% [1,2,3,4]. Constitutive activation of STAT3 www.impactjournals.com/oncotarget has been detected in a variety of primary human epithelial tumors including squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) of the head and neck, breast, ovary, prostate and lung [10,11,12,13]. The STAT3 expression level and the significance of which in the prognosis of ICC patients that undergo curative hepatectomy have not been reported. We identified elevated STAT3 expression in ICC tumor tissues compared with paratumor specimens. It is meaningful to investigate the clinical significance and biological function of STAT3 in the development of ICC
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.