STAT3 and glioma: As shown in Fig. 1A, the expression of IL6, p-STAT3, HIF1A, and LC3B positively correlated with the WHO grade of glioma (Fig. 1C), and Pearson's or Spearman's rho rank correlation tests showed that IL6, p-STAT3, HIF1A, LC3B and grade were positively correlated.