SOCS3 and breast cancer: SOCS-1 has been shown to be critical for preventing interferon γ (IFNγ)-mediated growth arrest of M-1 myeloid cells (Sakamoto et al, 1998), and overexpression of SOCS-1 or SOCS-3 in breast cancer lines inhibits the antiviral and antiproliferative ability of IFNγ (Song and Shuai, 1998).