TNF and cancer: According to the additional analyses, no significant association was found between the cancer diagnosis (yes vs. no) and the inflammatory markers, i.e. the level (mean; 95% confidence intervals) of adiponectin [μg/ml] (15.2; 8.8–39.2 vs. 15.9; 14.2–17.7; Z = −1.03; p = ns), resistin [ng/ml] (14.9; 0.8–29.4 vs. 10.8; 9.9–11.8; Z = −0.36; p = ns), hs-CRP [mg/l] (2.5; 0.3–5.4 vs. 3.0; 2.5–3.5; Z = −0.36; p = ns), IL-6 [pg/ml] (2.5; 1.8–6.9 vs. 4.0; 2.6–5.3; Z = −0.39; p = ns) and TNF-α [pg/ml] (2.5; 0.5–5.5 vs. 11.5; 6.2–16.7; Z = −0.21; p = ns).