Even after controlling for gender, age, and hospital, the plasma levels of CRC patients and controls differed significantly in terms of the following 13 cytokines: IL-4, IL-8, IL-9, IL-17A, Eotaxin, G-CSF, IFN-γ, TNF-α, IP-10, MIP-1α, MIP-1β, PDGF-BB, and RANTES (Table 2 and Fig 1, p < 0.05). The gene discussed is TNF; the disease is colorectal carcinoma.