IL6 and acute myeloid leukemia: Patients with AML maintain expression of various cytokines at levels higher than those in healthy individuals The production of cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β, that are driven during a leukemogenesis, stimulates AML blast growth in vitro via colony stimulating factor (CSF)-induced clonogenicity [25]; on the other hand, IL-10 downregulates cytokines that are involved in the differentiation and proliferation of AML cells [26].