STAT3 and neoplasm: DAPs have been shown to exhibit growth-suppressive activity and prevent tumour progression by modulating a variety of molecular targets and signalling pathways related to inflammation (STAT3, NF-kB), tumour invasion (VEGF), cell proliferation (MAPK/ERK, PI3K/Akt/mTOR, PTEN), cell cycle arrest and cell death (Bax, Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, cleavage of caspase-2 and PARP) in both in vitro and in vivo models (Ohori et al., 2006).