Compared with NSD, HSD significantly increased the production of several pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-12p40 and intracellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, and decreased the level of IL-6, IL-10 and granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in serum and tumour tissues from 4T1 tumour-bearing mice (Fig. 3a, Supplementary Fig. 5a). This evidence concerns the gene IL10 and neoplasm.