STAT STAT 3, STAT STAT 5A, STAT STAT 5B and STAT STAT 6 proteins are overexpressed in human basal cell carcinoma

摘要

Summary Background The molecular pathogenesis of basal cell carcinoma ( BCC ) is still not precisely described and is the subject of ongoing studies. The role of signal transducers and activators of transcription ( STAT s) in human epithelial carcinogenesis has been poorly investigated, but in the era of studies on inhibitors targeting STAT proteins this topic seems worth exploring. Increased expression of STAT 3 in human nonmelanoma skin cancer ( NMSC ) has been confirmed in a few studies, but to our knowledge, expression of STAT 5A, STAT 5B and STAT 6 in BCC has not been previously evaluated. Aim To measure expression of STAT 3, STAT 5A, STAT 5B and STAT 6 expression in different histopathological subtypes of human BCC and its correlation with selected clinical variables. Methods Immunohistochemistry was used to assess 60 BCC tumour specimens [20 superficial (s) BCC s, 20 nodular (n) BCC s and 20 infiltrative (i) BCC s] and to compare with specimens of healthy skin. There was no significant difference in age or sex between the three groups of patients with BCC . As many tumours showed heterogeneity of staining, the H‐score system was applied to calculate the intensity of immunoexpression. Results Expression of STAT 3, STAT 5A, STAT 5B and STAT 6 was observed in all histopathological subtypes of BCC , and was stronger than the expression within the adjacent epidermis and also stronger than the expression within the epidermis in the healthy control group. Statistical analysis revealed no significant differences in mean H‐scores calculated for sBCC s, nBCC s and iBCC s. There were no statistically significant associations between STAT 3, STAT 5A, STAT 5B and STAT 6 expression and patient sex/age, and tumour size/site. Conclusion Our results confirm a possible role of STAT s in the pathogenesis of BCC and should encourage future investigations on the possible therapeutic implications of this finding.