STAT3 and cholangiocarcinoma: Because previous studies have demonstrated that the expression of STAT1 and STAT3, which form the STAT1/3 DNA complex heterodimer, is a critical marker for the diagnosis and prognosis in colorectal cancer (CRC) [20], we evaluated whether STAT1/STAT3 play a similar role in regulating the expression of ALDH1A3 in cholangiocarcinoma.