STAT3 and cholesteatoma: In agreement with other reports [1, 14, 15], we found that levels of pAkt and pNF-κB molecules were significantly increased and the phosphorylated forms of c-Jun, MEK1, MEK2, MAPKp44/p42 (Erk1/2), and STAT3 were overexpressed in cholesteatoma tissue vs. normal skin epithelium.