While mRNA from oncogenes with known regulatory links such as c-MYC/STAT-3 and c-MYC/CDK4 showed co-regulation of expression, analysis also revealed significant correlation in the mRNA levels of IL-6 and MMPs: MMP-1: P = 0.02 & MMP-3: P < 0.01, with generally higher levels in tumor tissue compared with normal mucosa (Supplementary Fig. S1A). Here, STAT3 is linked to neoplasm.