Among the cytokines and chemokines produced by persistent pulmonary inflammation, interleukin-6 (IL-6) plays a pivotal role in promoting cancer development as shown in studies using in vitro and in vivo models of lung carcinogenesis (Chen et al. 2012; Dougan et al. 2011; Gao et al. 2007; Ochoa et al. 2011; Qi et al. 2014). The gene discussed is IL6; the disease is cancer.