STAT3 and hepatocellular carcinoma: In the present study, we first performed transwell assays to evaluate the invasionability of HCC cells that were treated with BMSC-CM, recombinant IL-6, or anti-IL-6antibody; then we measured the expression of IL-6R, gp130, and STAT3, and assessedthe phosphorylation level of STAT3 and the mRNA level of its target genes.