As shown in Table 3, tumor-derived IL-6 expression was significantly correlated with lymph node invasion and tumor histological grade; compared to IL-6low patients, IL-6high patients suffered from more aggressive histological features (cohort 1: P < 0.001; cohort 2: P = 0.001) and a higher risk of early lymph node invasion (cohort 1: P < 0.001; cohort 2: P = 0.012). The gene discussed is IL6; the disease is neoplasm.