High expression levels of activated Stat3 (p-Stat3) and VEGF are also associated with lymph node involvement in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), indicating that Stat3/VEGF pathway promotes cancer cell lymphatic metastasis and is correlated with tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage [39]. Here, STAT3 is linked to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.