STAT3 and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: Based on predictions from binding motifs and validations through luciferase reporter assays and site-directed mutagenesis, we identified a potential positive STAT3 binding site at Site2 (− 1786 to − 1991 bp) and a potential negative site at Site1 (− 546 to − 780 bp) in the promoter region of LHPP. Additionally, we used previously published ChIP-on-chip data from three ESCC cell lines, which revealed STAT3 binding sites on the PAFR gene, serving as an additional experimental control (Zhao et al. 2023).