STAT3 and cancer: Importantly, the epithelial lesions are preceded by enhanced activation of cytoplasmic and nuclear NF-κB promoting significant molecular alterations of cancer-related genes, such as Bcl2, Egfr, Stat3, Tnf, and Il6, and miRNA markers, such as miR-21, miR-155, miR-192, miR-375, miR-451a, and miR-34a.