Expression of STAT3 and Cyclin D1 in pancreatic carcinoma and clinical significance.

Objective To investigate the expression of STAT3, PSTAT3 and Cyclin D1 and the relationship between PSTAT3 and various clinical pathological characteristics in human pancreatic carcinoma. Methods The expression of Cyclin Dl, STATS and its activated form PSTAT3 in tumor tissues from 41 radically resected specimens of pancreatic carcinoma and 10 normal pancreatic tissues was detected by immunohistochemical staining. Results The protein expression rate of STATS, PSTAT3 and Cyclin Dl in pancreatic carcinoma was 31/41(75. 6%), 29/41(70. 7%) and 25/41 (61. 0%) respectively, which were significantly higher than that in normal group (P 0. 001). The positive rate of PSTAT3 was closely related to the clinical stage and lymph node metastasis (P 0. 05). STATS in pancreatic carcinoma was located in the cytoplasm, while PSTAT3 and Cyclin Dl were located in the cell nucleus. There was a positive correlation between the positive rates of PSTAT3 and Cyclin D1 (P 0. 01). Cyclin D1 was also related to lymph node metastasis(P 0. 05). Conclusions STAT3, PSTAT3 and Cyclin D1 were overexpressed in human pancreatic carcinoma. Activation of STAT3 was significantly related to the clinical stage and lymph node metastasis. A positive correlation was found between the expression rates of PSTAT3 and Cyclin Dl. It is suggested that PSTAT3 might play an important role in the carcinogenesis and progress of pancreatic carcinoma via up-regulating the expression of Cyclin D1.