Since it was previously showed that the activation of the IL-6/STAT3 axis signaling in cancer stem cells (CSC) can enhances proliferation and survival of cells and in turn favor the growth of tumors in mice, we decided to detect the presence of CSC in HCMV-DB-infected HMECs using a tumorsphere (mammosphere) formation assay45,46. The gene discussed is STAT3; the disease is cancer.