STAT3 and esophageal cancer: Based on the findings that inhibition of STAT3 resulted in a near complete phenocopy of the effects of miR-124, thus, we speculate that STAT3 is a central for the suppressive actions of miR-124 in esophageal cancer, which means down-regulation of miR-124 in esophageal cancer cells may contribute to the increased expression of STAT3 and in turn facilitate the esophageal carcinogenesis.