Role of STAT3 in gastric cancer initiation, development, and progression

Abstract

Gastric cancer (GC), a leading cancer that occupies the second position in terms of morbidity and mortality, occupies the fourth place of all cancers in terms of manifestation. Annual gastric cancer manifestations are reaching several millions of deaths along with millions of new cases. Gastric cancer which is not detected in the early stages has very poor prognosis, and the 5-year survival rate is only around 20%. Gastric cancer development includes numerous alterations at genome level leading to changes in the expression of quite a lot of genes involved in several physiological processes. Even though a number of factors showed their role in advancement of GC, a link between STAT3 and the risk of GC has become apparent in current years. Signal transducers and activators of transcriptions (STATs) which are predominantly known for their role as transcription factors are implicated in controlling numerous physiological processes such as cell propagation, differentiation, apoptosis, and angiogenesis by controlling the expression of critical genes in the pathway. Abnormal activation of STAT3 plays a key role in inflammation and transformation in numerous cancers including gastric cancer (GC). Earlier, STAT3 has never been considered as a target, and hence there is no FDA-approved STAT3 inhibitor till now. Recent advances in drug discovery and cancer biology now focused on STAT3 globally for treating different types of cancers. The present chapter summarizes the recent literature and gives an idea about involvement of STAT3 in gastric cancer initiation and progression.