IL6 and neoplasm: As shown in Figure 4, in comparison with normal mucosa, the tumor tissues released significantly higher amounts of IL-17A (224.2 ± 34.2 pg/mg tissue vs 148.3 ± 14.0 pg/mg tissue, P = 0.047) and TGF-β (1311.5 ± 157.6 pg/mg tissue vs 649.5 ± 75.6 pg/mg tissue, P = 0.001), but not IL-1β (P = 0.144), IL-21(P = 0.262), IL-23 (P = 0.489) and IL-6 (P = 0.513).