In line with the evidence that phosphorylated STAT3 lies upstream of MCL-1 signaling, our study showed that the combined treatment of gemcitabine and APG-1252 led to downregulation of JAK-2/p-STAT3/MCL-1 signaling, together with activation of the apoptotic cascade, consisting of caspases and the pro-apoptotic protein BAD, in NPC cells. Here, STAT3 is linked to nasopharyngeal carcinoma.