Constitutive activity of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 protein in acute myeloid leukemia blasts is associated with short disease-free survival.

Signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) proteins are involved in hematopoietic cytokine receptor signaling pathways that regulate cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival. STATs are dysregulated in acute myeloid leukemia (AML); mechanisms of dysregulation include constitutive activation and truncation of the C-terminal transactivation domain; the latter results in a beta isoform that has a trans-dominant negative effect on gene induction mediated by the full-length STAT alpha form. It was hypothesized that constitutive STAT activity might correlate with unfavorable treatment outcome in AML.