In support of our in vitro data, both HStC-specific genetic depletion and pharmacological inhibition of STAT3 markedly reduced the number of Ki67+ CK19+ cancer cells in vivo, suggesting that pSTAT3+myMAF-derived factors, such as periostin, mediate cancer cell proliferation in a STAT3-dependent manner (Supplementary Fig. 7D–G). Here, MKI67 is linked to cancer.