Furthermore, miR-500a-3p levels in HCC tissues were positively associated with mRNA levels of the STAT3 downstream genes Bcl-2 (r = 0.725, P = 0.042), MCL1 (r = 0.719, P = 0.044) and Bcl-xL (r = 0.779, P = 0.029) (Additional file 10: Figure S6). Here, MCL1 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.