STAT3 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Wang et al. proposed hepatic gluconeogenesis is significantly reduced in HCC via interleukin (IL)-6-Stat3-mediated activation of microRNA-23a which suppresses glucose-6-phosphatase and the transcription factor PGC-1a, aiding HCC growth and proliferation by maintaining a high level of glycolysis required for cancerous cells [19].