Highlighting the importance of feed forward mechanisms present in the tumor microenvironment mediated by a the synergy between STAT3 and PTEN loss is recent data from the Witte lab, showing that IL-6 and oncostatin M increase STAT3 signaling leading to the development of aggressive adenocarcinoma of the prostate in mouse models of PTEN loss or constitutive AKT expression [26]. The gene discussed is STAT3; the disease is neoplasm.