Objective: To investigate the expression of STAT3 and P-STAT3 and the relationship between P-STAT3 and various clinical pathological characteristics in human laryngeal carcinoma.
Method: The expression of STAT3 and its activated form P-STAT3 in tumor tissues from 50 radically resected specimens of laryngeal carcinoma and 10 normal laryngeal tissues was detected by immunohistochemical staining.
Result: The rate of protein expression of STAT3 and P-STAT3 in laryngeal carcinoma were 36/50 (72.0%) and 29/50 (58.0%) respectively, which were significantly higher than that in normal group (P < 0.01). The positive rate of P-STAT3 was closely related to the clinical stage and lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). The expression STAT3 in laryngeal carcinoma was located in the cytoplasm of carcinoma cells, while P-STAT3 was located in the cell nucleus.
Conclusion: STAT3 and PSTAT3 were overexpressed in human laryngeal carcinoma. Activation of STAT3 was significantly related to the clinical stage and lymph node metastasis. The expression of STAT3 can be used as a significant parameter in predicting the biological behaviour of laryngeal carcinoma.