TNF and breast cancer: Furthermore, levels of the pro-inflammatory factors IL-1 and TNF-α, the pro-proliferative transcription factor, NF-κB, as well as ROS and RNS levels, were significantly increased in viral positive compared with viral negative breast tissue Previously, other studies investigated the effect of EBV load in the sera and tumor tissue on the survival of patients with breast cancer (Marrão et al., 2014).