In addition, Stat3, a pivotal transcriptional effector mediating cytokine responses contributing to several inflammation-associated cancers (reviewed in [25, 26]), was activated/phosphorylated diffusely in gastric adenocarcinomas in both epithelium as well as stroma, with negligible pStat3 immunostaining in control antrum (Figure 4C, 4D). Here, STAT3 is linked to gastric adenocarcinoma.