IL6 and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Preclinical studies also have shown that COPD-like airway inflammation induced by aerosolized NTHi strongly increases tumor growth in Kras mouse models through the activation of Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling, the recruitment of neutrophils into the tumor microenvironment, and inflammatory mediators (e.g. IL-17A, IL-6)12–17.