STAT3 binds to consensus cis‐acting elements of target genes in the nucleus, thus driving the transcription of a variety of genes encoding regulators of growth (such as cyclin D1 and c‐Myc), survival (such as BCL‐xL and survivin), angiogenesis (such as HIF1‐α and VEGF), metastasis (such as MMP1 and vimentin) of cancer cells, and cancer immune evasion (such as IL‐6 and TGF‐β) (Carpenter and Lo, 2014). Here, MMP1 is linked to cancer.