IL-34 induces differentiation of leukaemia cells into monocyte-like, macrophage-like cells and mature macrophages through the JAK/STAT and PI3K/Akt signalling pathways [26, 27], suggesting that IL-34 enhances differentiation of other cancers, and supporting our current finding that IL-34 was correlated with the differentiation of GC. This evidence concerns the gene SOAT1 and cancer.