STAT3 and nasopharyngeal carcinoma: As many cellular genes regulating cell cycle and apoptosis, such as c-Myc, cyclin D and bcl-x are downstream targets of STAT3 and STAT5 (Buettner et al, 2002), it is reasonable to speculate that persistent signalling of STATs, particularly STAT3 and STAT5, may play a role in tumorigenesis of NPC.