Differential expression of STAT5 and Bcl-xL, and high expression of Neu and STAT3 in non-small-cell lung carcinoma

Experimental evidence suggests that in lung cancer, development, progression and an increased proliferation rate can be linked to apoptosis-related factors. The objective of this study is to evaluate the status of Neu, signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)-3, STAT5 and Bcl-xL expression in non-small-cell lung cancer. We investigated the immunohistochemical expression of these proteins in 92 non-small-cell lung cancer specimens to establish their role in lung cancer pathogenesis. Neu was overexpressed in 65% of cases, and although STAT3 was overexpressed in 52.1% in cytoplasm, it was expressed in nucleus (activated) in 60.8%. Meanwhile, STAT5 was found overexpressed in 41.3% in cytoplasm and 32.6% in nucleus. Thus, Bcl-xL was overexpressed in cytoplasm in 81.5%. Interestingly, we found nuclear expression of Bcl-xL in 30.4% of cases. Finally, we found correlation among histological types of lung cancer and nuclear expression of both STAT5 (P=0.005) and nuclear Bcl-xL (P=0.003). Besides, nuclear expression of Bcl-xL was correlated with TNM stage IV (distant metastasis) (P=0.02). These results suggest for the first time, a relevant role for STAT5 and Bcl-xL as apoptosis-regulatory proteins in the pathogenesis of lung cancer, and overexpression of both Neu and activated STAT3, could be related with the proliferation rate in lung carcinoma cells.