STAT3 and nasopharyngeal carcinoma: However, when we combined the expression of IL-6 and CD73 to study the relationship between different IL-6 and CD73 expression types and disease progression, we found that NPC patients with IL-6highCD73high phenotype showed higher expressions of gp80, gp130, and p-STAT3, lower expressions of MMP-9 and α-SMA, and a poorer prognosis than patients with IL-6lowCD73low phenotype.