The Expression Of STAT3 And HTERT In Retinoblastoma And Its Clinicopathologic Significance

Objective:To investigate the expressions of signal transducer and activator of transcription3 (STAT3) and human telomerase catalytic subunit (hTERT) in retinoblastoma (RB) and their clinical pathological significance.Methods:Expressions of STAT3 and hTERT were detected in tissues of 27 cases RB embedded in paraffin by immunohistochemical method while their relationships with pathological type, clinical stage, treatment, and prognosis were analyzed.Results:(1)The positive rates of STAT3 and hTERT in 27 cases of RB were 77.7% and 70.3% respectively.(2) The expressions of STAT3 and hTERT were both associated with differentiation of RB (χ2=4.571,χ2=4.863, P<0.05).(3) The expressions of STAT3 and hTERT were both associated with infiltration of RB into optic nerve (χ2=6.075, P=0.014,χ2=5.684, P=0.017). (4) The positive rate of hTERT in RB with positive expression of STAT3 was 69.8%. The positive rate of hTERT in RB with negative expression of STAT3 was 27.3%. The negative rate of hTERT in RB with negative expression of STAT3 was 72.7%.(5) There was no co-relationship between the expression of STAT3 and hTERT showed by spearman's rank correlation analysis (r=0.085, P=0.633).Conclusions:1. The expressions of STAT3 and hTERT are both closely associated with the differentiation and optic nerve infiltration of RB.2. There is no significant co-relationship between the expression of STAT3 and hTERT in RB, but infiltration and metastasis of RB may be induced by co-expression of STAT3 and hTERT.3. STAT3 and hTERT protein could be regarded as new neoplasma markers which could be used to judge malignant extent of neoplasma. The detection of STAT3 and hTERT is benefited for screening cases with high metastasis risk. STAT3 and hTERT would become a new target molecule in clinical treatment of RB.