Sorafenib inhibits growth and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma by blocking STAT3

Figure 4 Signaling pathways involved in sorafenib-induced inhibition of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 phosphorylation. In hepatocellular carcinoma, extracellular signal-regulated kinase-related pathways regulate signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) phosphorylation at S727, and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt can be responsible for phosphorylation at Y705. Thus, sorafenib inhibits STAT3 phosphorylation in part through blockade of the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)/STAT3 and PI3K/Akt/STAT3 signaling pathways, regardless of the Janus kinase 2 and phosphatase shatterproof 2.