IL6 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Previously, implantation of HCC cells with hepatic stellate cells in nude mice was found to boost tumor growth and invasiveness, as well as to suppress tumor necrosis [22], and culturing HCC cells with LX2, a multipotent human hepatic stellate cell line, was reported to induce the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-6 that promoted HCC proliferation and migration through cross-talk with LX2 [23].