Expression and clinicopathological significance of Stat3 and PTEN in cervical squamous cell carcinoma

Purpose To investigate the expression and their relationships with clinicopathologica parameters of signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 (Stat3) and PTEN in cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC), cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and normal human cervical tissues. Methods The expression of Stat3 and PTEN protein was detected by immunohistochemistry (SP method) in 58 cases of CSCC, 37 CIN and 17 normal human cervical tissues.Results The positive expression rates of Stat3 in CSCC , CINⅡ～Ⅲ, CINⅠand normal human cervical tissues were 70.7%, 33.3%, 13.6%, and 5.9%, respectively. The expression of Stat3 was significantly higher in CSCC compared to normal controls, CINⅠand CINⅡ～Ⅲ (P0.05). The expression of Stat3 in CSCC was related to histological grade, clinical stage and metastasis of lymph node (P0.05). The positive expression rates of PTEN in CSCC and normal human cervical tissues were 34.5 % and 88.2 %, respectively, and there was significant difference between the two groups (P0.01). The expression rates of PTEN was higher in the group of without lymph node metastasis than those in the group with lymph node metastasis (P0.01). The expression of PTEN protein in CSCC was related to clinical stage(P0.05) , but was not associated with age, and histological grade. There was an inverse correlation between the Stat3 and PTEN in CSCC (rs=-0.375, P0.01 ). Conclusions Overexpression of Stat3 and inactivation of PTEN are found in CSCC, and may be related to the development and metastasis of CSCC. Combined detection of Stat3 and PTEN may be useful for early pathological diagnosis of benign and malignant cervical lesions.