STAT3 and neoplasm: These inflammatory mediators also contribute to tumor-promoting signaling through activation of oncogenic transcription factors such as nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), further accelerating CAC development (Grivennikov et al., 2009; Rahat and Shakya, 2016; Wu et al., 2016).