STAT3 and glioblastoma: 2002; Alvarez et al. 2005). Furthermore, inhibitors of STAT3 activation may suppress the survival and the proliferation of tumour cells (Alas and Bonavida 2003). In addition, Birner et al. (2010) demonstrated that the activation of STAT3 by Y705 phosphorylation is related to clinically more aggressive GBM. It has also been reported that STAT3 phosphorylation is increased in GBM cells (Tonks 2006). Similarly, in our experiments, the phosphorylation level of STAT3 was also increased in A172 cells and U-87 MG cells (Figure 1(C)).