Effect of STAT3 inhibitor piceatannol on human dendritic cell homeostasis and growth of hepatocellular carcinoma in vitro

Aims: Preliminary results from patients with HCC revealed an immature phenotype and a substantial reduction of circulating 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. Moreover, constitutive STAT3 tyrosine or serine phosphorylation has been shown to possess transforming properties and to be strongly associated with tumo…