Expression of IL-6 and IL-10 (macrophage-associated cytokines) in tumour tissue has only been determined in a few studies and using relatively small patient cohorts [7–9, 19, 29–32] with limited information about prognostic significance (e.g. 108 invasive BC cases stained for IL-6 and other cytokines [33]). This evidence concerns the gene IL6 and breast cancer.