We further confirmed that treatment with the NF-κB inhibitor JSH-23 (Sigma-Aldrich) inhibited Oct4 expression in A549 cells following treatment with TNF-α or IL-1β (Additional file 3: Figure S2D), suggesting that TAMs secret cytokines to upregulate Oct4 expression in lung cancer cells and subsequently promote differentiation of monocytes into M2 macrophages, leading to favoring tumor growth. Here, TNF is linked to lung cancer.