IL6 and hepatocellular carcinoma: In vitro and in vivo data have demonstrated that estrogen inhibits HCC growth through upregulation of the JAK-STAT pathway (16), suppression of Interleukin-6 secretion, decreased hepatocyte growth factor production (13, 45), suppression of PPARa-associated hepatocarcinogenesis (46, 47), and inhibition of NF-KB (48).