CD69 and neoplasm: To explore tumor-induced immune responses in pre-metastatic LNs further we selected a panel of genes representing: 1) T-lymphocyte associated markers (Cd3e, Cd4, Cd8a, Il2ra, Tbx21, Gata3, Foxp3, Cd69 and Ctla4), 2) macrophage associated markers (Cd209b, Marco, Itgam, Emr1, Ido1 and Lyve1), and 3) cytokines/growth factors (Il10, Il6, Il4, Ifng, and Tgfb1).