Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Dec 16:12:1023177.
doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.1023177. eCollection 2022.

The role of IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway in cancers

Bei Huang  1   2 , Xiaoling Lang  1   2 , Xihong Li  2   3
Affiliations
Review

The role of IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway in cancers

Bei Huang et al. Front Oncol. .

Abstract

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a pleiotropic cytokine involved in immune regulation. It can activate janus kinase 2 (JAK2)-signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) signaling pathway. As one of the important signal transduction pathways in cells, JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway plays a critical role in cell proliferation and differentiation by affecting the activation state of downstream effector molecules. The activation of JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway is involved in tumorigenesis and development. It contributes to the formation of tumor inflammatory microenvironment and is closely related to the occurrence and development of many human tumors. This article focuses on the relationship between IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway and liver cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer and ovarian cancer, hoping to provide references for the research of cancer treatment targeting key molecules in IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway.

Keywords: IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway; breast cancer; colorectal cancer; gastric cancer; liver cancer; lung cancer; ovarian cancer; pancreatic cancer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Targeting the IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway in cancers. TSA, trichostatin A; BBR, Berberine; HMA, 2-hydroxy-3-methylanthraquinone; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; HR, hormone receptor; HER2+, HER2-positive; CRC, colorectal cancer; GC, gastric cancer; PCCs, pancreatic cancer cells; OC, ovarian cancer; BC, breast cancer.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Li L, Yu R, Cai T, Chen Z, Lan M, Zou T, et al. . Effects of immune cells and cytokines on inflammation and immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment. Int Immunopharmacol (2020) 88:106939. doi: 10.1016/j.intimp.2020.106939 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Xiao J, Gong Y, Chen Y, Yu D, Wang X, Zhang X, et al. . IL-6 promotes epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition of human peritoneal mesothelial cells possibly through the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol (2017) 313(2):F310–f8. doi: 10.1152/ajprenal.00428.2016 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Singh AK, Bhadauria AS, Kumar U, Raj V, Rai A, Kumar P, et al. . Novel indole-fused benzo-oxazepines (IFBOs) inhibit invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma by targeting IL-6 mediated JAK2/STAT3 oncogenic signals. Sci Rep (2018) 8(1):5932. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-24288-0 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zhang X, Lu H, Hong W, Liu L, Wang S, Zhou M, et al. . Tyrphostin B42 attenuates trichostatin a-mediated resistance in pancreatic cancer cells by antagonizing IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 signaling. Oncol Rep (2018) 39(4):1892–900. doi: 10.3892/or.2018.6241 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Liu X, Wang J, Wang H, Yin G, Liu Y, Lei X, et al. . REG3A accelerates pancreatic cancer cell growth under IL-6-associated inflammatory condition: Involvement of a REG3A-JAK2/STAT3 positive feedback loop. Cancer Lett (2015) 362(1):45–60. doi: 10.1016/j.canlet.2015.03.014 - DOI - PubMed