[Expression and significance of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 and c-myc in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the expression and clinical significance of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3(STAT3) and its target gene c-myc in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC), and the relationship between the two genes. METHOD:Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissues, which came from 56 cases of LSCC and 30 samples of normal mucosas from 30 patients with total or subtotal laryngectomy over 2.0 cm away from tumor margin, were detected for the expression of STATS, c-myc by in situ hybridization and SP immunohistochemistry. Micro-image analysis system was used to determine the optical density, and the result was analyzed statistically. RESULT:There is overexpression of STAT3, c-myc mRNA and protein in LSCC. The expression of STAT3 and c-myc mRNA in LSCC was associated with clinical stage, differentiation grade and lymph nodal metastases (P < 0.05 or 0.01). The expression of STAT3 and c-myc protein in LSCC was associated with clinical stage and lymph nodal metastases (P < 0.05 or 0.01). There was a positive correlation between the expression of STAT3 and c-myc genes. mRNA and protein, The correlation coefficient (r) was 0.6224 (P < 0.01) for the mRNA expression and 0.7012 (P < 0.01 )for the protein expression. CONCLUSION:The expression of STAT3 and c-myc may play an important role in the tumorigenesis, metastases and poor prognosis of LSCC. There was a positive correlation between the overexpression of STAT3 and c-myc genes in LSCC.