STAT3 and hepatocellular carcinoma: First, it was shown that transient inhibition of HNF-4α is sufficient to initiate malignant transformation through a network including HNF-4α, miR-124, IL6R, STAT3, miR-24 and miR-629 [127]; the second pathway is comprised of HNF-4α, miR-124, miR-7, NF-κB (p65) and miR-21, which modulates HCC initiation and progression, and might be useful to predict the prognosis of HCC patients [128].