In the heart, signalling pathways having been shown to be involved in cardiac hypertrophy were also found to be important for cell survival. The cyclooxygenase products including prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) as well as the transcription factor Stat3 appear to be involved in both cardiomyocyte growth and survival. The aim of this thesis was to investigate whether PGE2 activates Stat3 in neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes and whether this activation plays a role in myocardial hypertrophy and cellular survival. This thesis shows that in ventricular cardiomyocytes, PGE2 induces Stat3 activation via the EP4 receptor involving the ERK1/2 signalling pathway. PGE2 was found to induce cardiomyocyte growth and to inhibit the apoptotic effects of doxorubicin, a potent antitumor drug known to be cardiotoxic. In both these PGE2-induced responses, Stat3 was shown to play a crucial role. In conclusion, the PGE2-Stat3 connection plays a beneficial role in ventricular cardiomyocytes.