text: Interleukin 6 (acronym: IL-6) is a cytokine that is important for many aspects of cellular biology including immune responses, cell survival, apoptosis, as well as proliferation. Several studies have outlined the importance of autocrine IL-6 signaling in lung and breast cancers. For example, one group found a positive correlation between persistently activated tyrosine-phosphorylated STAT3 (pSTAT3), found in 50% of lung adenocarcinomas, and IL-6. Further investigation revealed that mutant EGFR could activate the oncogenic STAT3 pathway via upregulated IL-6 autocrine signaling.
  Similarly, HER2 overexpression occurs in approximately a quarter of breast cancers and correlates with poor prognosis. Recent research revealed that IL-6 secretion induced by HER2 overexpression activated STAT3 and altered gene expression, resulting in an autocrine loop of IL-6/STAT3 expression. Both mouse and human in vivo models of HER2-overexpressing breast cancers relied critically on this HER2–IL-6–STAT3 signaling pathway. Another group found that high serum levels of IL-6 correlated with poor outcome in breast cancer tumors. Their research showed that autocrine IL-6 signaling induced malignant features in Notch-3 expressing mammospheres.