Inflammation has been linked to cancer, but only in the last decade it has been possible to understand how inflammatory cells and other tumor stromal molecules stimulate tumor progression by creating a microenvironment that is enriched by the interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF) cytokines, which are protagonists of chronic inflammation associated with cancers on the liver, stomach, and colon. The gene discussed is TNF; the disease is cancer.