Cumulative evidence suggests the importance of the NF‐κB/STAT3/IL‐6 positive feedback loop in linking inflammation and cancer: to maintain the active state of breast myofibroblasts (Hendrayani et al., 2016), to stimulate vascular inflammation (Brasier, 2010), and to promote the survival of cancer cells under stressed conditions and tumor aggressiveness (McFarland et al., 2013; Yoon et al., 2012). The gene discussed is IL6; the disease is cancer.