To see if AR indeed has a role in the hypothesized pathway, an interruption approach via overexpressing AR revealed that the increase of AR reversed the expression of PIAS3, pSTAT3 (Y705), FKBP5, PHLPP, pAKT (S473) and pERK (Thr202/Tyr204) in HepG2, SKhep1 and Huh7 cells (Figure 1h and Supplementary Figure S1B), indicating that AR could enhance sorafenib efficacy to suppress HCC invasion via AR-pSTAT3/pAKT/pERK pathway. This evidence concerns the gene AR and hepatocellular carcinoma.