Prognostic value of protein inhibitor of activated STAT3 in breast cancer patients receiving hormone therapy

BACKGROUND: Deregulated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) signaling has been well documented in certain cancers. Alterations in specific negative regulators, such as protein inhibitor of activated STAT3 (PIAS3), may contribute to cancer development. METHODS: The expression of total PIAS3 was determined in 100 paired cancerous and non-cancerous breast tissues by immunoblotting and was statistically analyzed along with the clinicopathological characteristics and overall survival of the patients. XTT, immunoblotting, and chromatin immunoprecipitation (Chip) were used to examine the biological effect of PIAS3 in breast cancer cells. RESULTS: Hormone therapy failed to improve the overall survival in patients presenting with increased PIAS3 expression. Ectopic PIAS3 overexpression increased the proliferation and expression of cyclin D1 in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive MCF-7 and T47D cells, but decreased those in ER-negative MDA-MB-231 and SKBR3 cells. Furthermore, PIAS3 overexpression attenuated cytotoxicity of tamoxifen and increased proliferation and cyclin D1 expression in MCF-7 cells. PIAS3 also decreased the binding of itself on the cyclin D1 promoter and this decreased binding was not affected by tamoxifen. CONCLUSION: PIAS3 may serve as a biomarker for predicting hormone therapy stratification, although it is limited to those breast cancer patients receiving hormone therapy ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-016-2063-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.