<b>Conclusions:</b> The meta-analysis showed that <i>STAT3</i> rs1053004 polymorphism may be the risk for developing chronic HBV infection but not associated with HCC.
These results illustrate that perhaps rs1053004 polymorphisms in the STAT3 gene participated in the progression of hepatitis B to HCC in Iranian people.
These findings suggest that the SNP rs1053004 in STAT3 might contribute to HCC susceptibility and could be used as a genetic marker for HCC in the Thai population.
In multivariate regression analyses, multiplicative interaction of rs1053004 with T1674C/G significantly increased HCC risk, whereas rs2293152 and A1726C interaction reduced it, adjusting for covariates including HBV mutations in the enhancer II/basal core promoter/precore region; the interaction of rs4796793 with preS2 start codon mutation significantly increased HCC risk, adjusting for covariates including HBV mutations in the preS region.