Interestingly, CXCL1, CXCL2, CCL5, IL6, IL12B, TNF and IFNB1 were markedly up-regulated in THP-1 cells challenged with H. pylori GC026, a strain isolated from a GC patient and known to be positive for multiple virulence factors (cagA+, cagE+, cagL+, cagT+, vacA s1m1+, babA+, oipA+, dupA+ and sabA+), when compared to the reference strain H. pylori 26695. Here, TNF is linked to gastric cancer.