TNF and infectious otitis media: We observed that the molecular assessment of AOM/DSS-induced tumors is characterized by a mild inflammatory background with a number of genes linked to inflammation and innate immune response, as will be discussed in detail hereafter, but without alterations in the key inflammation pathway mediators, e.g., the NFKB, IL-10, IL-6, TNFA and TGFβ genes [29, 30].