TITLE:
Protein Expression of STAT3, pSTAT3, MMP-7 and VEGF in Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: An Immunohistochemical Study
AUTHORS:
Rakesh Naidu, Lim Vin Nee, Mak Joon Wah, Kevin Moissinac, A. Rahman A. Jamal, Isa Mohd Rose, Yunus Gul Alif Gul, Patricia Lim Kim Chooi, Gregory Tan Jin San
KEYWORDS:
STAT3, pSTAT3, MMP-7, VEGF, Colorectal Adenocarcinoma
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Cancer Therapy,
Vol.5 No.13,
November
7,
2014
ABSTRACT: Background: The purpose of the present
study is to investigate the expression levels of STAT3, pSTAT3, MMP-7 and VEGF
in colorectal adenocarcinoma, and also to determine association with the
clinico-pathological parameters andco-expression of these genes.
Methods: An immunohistochemical method was used to evaluate the expression of
MMP-7 and VEGF genes in 93 archival tissues whereas STAT3 and pSTAT3 expression
was determined in 75 cases. Results: Overexpression of STAT3 was detected in
26.7% (20/75), pSTAT3 in 13.4% (10/75), MMP-7 in 38.8% (36/93) and VEGF in
59.2% (55/93) of the colorectal carcinomas. STAT3, MMP-7 and VEGF
immunopositivity were significantly correlated with poorly-differentiated
tumors (P = 0.004; P = 0.03; P = 0.002, respectively) but not with other
parameters. However, pSTAT3 immunostaining was not significantly associated
with the clinico-pathological characteristics. Significant relationship was
noted between overexpression of pSTAT3 and STAT3 (P Our data suggest that expression of these genesmay have an important role in tumor dedifferentiation andmay be useful as indicators of biologic aggressiveness. Co-expression
of the biomarkers by cancer cellsmay have
important implications in colorectal cancer biology andcould be useful biological markers of the malignant phenotype.