Western blotting analysis showed that IL-6 stimulation significantly induced STAT3 phosphorylation in the control HCC cells, and TPTEP1 knockdown furthermore augmented IL-6-induced STAT3 phosphorylation in HCC cells (Fig. 6a), and also strengthened cisplatinum-induced STAT3 phosphorylation in HCC cells (Additional file 1: Fig. S3A). Here, STAT3 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.