STAT3 and gastric cancer: Constitutive activation of STAT3 protein is a common pro‐inflammatory oncogenic feature identified in numerous solid tumors including gastric cancer.[26, 27] To confirm if the increase of IL‐6 levels induced by TDCA and LPS can activate the STAT3 pathway, we examined the levels of STAT3 phosphorylation using Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry staining.