The predominant phenotype of myeloid cells in the primary tumour could not be clearly determined in this study; tentative M2 marker CD163 were absent on most CD68 cells, and a cytokine profiling identified a range of factors that could be derived from pro-inflammatory (IL-1, IL-6, IL-12/23, IL-15, TNF-α) and suppressive (IL-8, VEGFA) cells respectively53. Here, VEGFA is linked to neoplasm.