- Quercetin and epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) are dietary phytochemicals with antiinflammatory and antitumor effects. In the present study we examined effects of these two compounds on JAK/STAT pathway of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) cells, because CCA is one of the aggressive cancers with very poor prognosis and JAK/STAT pathway is critically important in inflammation and carcinogenesis. The results showed that the JAK/STAT pathway activation by proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 and interferon-γ in CCA cells was suppressed by pretreatment with quercetin and EGCG, evidently by decrease of the elevated phosphorylated-STAT1 and -STAT3 proteins in a dose-dependent manner. The cytokine-mediated up-regulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) via JAK/STAT cascade was abolished by both quercetin and EGCG pretreatment. Moreover these flavonoids also could inhibit growth and cytokineinduced migration of CCA cells. Pretreatment with specific JAK inhibitors, AG490 and piceatannol, abolished cytokine-induced iNOS and ICAM-1 expression. These results demonstrate beneficial effects of quercetin and EGCG in suppression of JAK/STAT cascade of CCA cells. Quercetin and EGCG would be potentially useful as cancer chemopreventive agents against CCA.