STAT3 and inflammatory bowel disease: Evidence has accumulated that STAT3 contributes to sporadic colorectal cancer [7,8], as well as to CRC in IBD patients, who are already at an increased risk for CRCSTAT3 protein levels are increased in 52–73% of human CRC tumors and levels of STAT3 correlated with the depth of tumor invasion, venous invasion, lymph node metastasis, and CRC-specific mortality [7,8].