Next, both IL-6 pretreatment and exogenous addition of IL-6 to atorvastatin-treated HCC cells every 24 h revealed that, compared with atorvastatin treatment alone, combined IL-6 and atorvastatin treatment significantly decreased the number of SA-β-gal-positive HepG2 and Hep3B cells (Fig. 3c, d). This evidence concerns the gene IL6 and hepatocellular carcinoma.