The human stromal cell line HS-5 expresses abundant FGF2, in addition to other soluble cytokines such as IL-5, IL-8 and HGF (Roecklein and Torok-Storb, 1995), and conditioned media (CM) from HS-5 is highly protective of leukemia cell lines. The gene discussed is CXCL8; the disease is leukemia.