The importance of IL-6 as a biomarker in various cancers is increasingly recognized, highlighting its role in oncogenesis and tumor progression (Zhang et al., 2020; Unver and McAllister, 2018), with TAM-derived IL-6 pivotal in activating the STAT3 cascade, thereby upregulating EMT-TFs and propelling tumor progression (Siersbaek et al., 2020; Huang et al., 2022). The gene discussed is STAT3; the disease is cancer.