Immune modulating and anti-proliferative properties of STAT3 inhibitor piceatannol in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)

Aims: Preliminary results from direct ex vivo flow cytometric analysis of peripheral blood from patients with HCC revealed an immature phenotype and a substantial reduction of circulating dendritic cell (DC) subsets that was associated with increased IL-10 concentrations in serum and with tumor progression. It has been demonstrated that IL-10 exerts it's biologic effect on eukaryotic cells by interacting with a specific cell surface receptor resulting in subsequent downstream engagement of the JAK-STAT signaling pathway and STAT3 activation. Constitutive STAT3 tyrosine or serine phosphorylation has been shown to…