STAT3 and cancer: Consistent with previous studies (Sanz-Moreno et al., 2011; Looyenga et al., 2012; Pilati and Zucman-Rossi, 2015), the IL6ST gene, which was the top co-regulated gene, conducted its function via activation of the JAK1/2/STAT3 pathway in our study, and the mRNA levels of IL6ST companioned with its targets JAK1/2 and STAT3 were positively related with LEPROT mRNA levels in not only SARC but also in almost all pan-cancer studies.