STAT3 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Both agents induced cell cycle arrest in HCC cells that express Rb protein.165,166 Marozin et al.167 demonstrated that NSC74859, a specific inhibitor of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), effectively inhibits the proliferation of HCC cells and is likely to be incorporated into vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) oncolytic virus therapy.