LIF and cancer: Cachectic patients with gastroenteropancreatic carcinomas (GEPCs) and tumor-bearing experimental animals exhibited increased plasma cytokines, such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), interleukin-10 (IL-10), leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), TNF-α, and VEGF-A, which are either produced by cancer cells or released by the host immune system in response to cancer [4, 6–8].