STAT3 and neoplasm: Similar results have obtained in some studies on pancreatic cancer (Kang et al., 2012; Gong et al., 2014): autophagy activated by RAGE promoted IL-6-induced STAT3 activation; in addition, downregulation of autophagic activity in RAGE-targeted knockout KC mice inhibited STAT3 activation and ATP generation in mitochondria and delayed tumor development.