Genes that were predicted to be affected by both SB203580 and IL-6 included p38, Ctgf, Ptges, Mmp2, Vim, Cdh1, Ccl2 and Ar. All these genes, except for Cdh1 which is an epithelial cadherin protein-coding gene and Cd40, a member of the TNF receptor superfamily and often expressed on epithelial malignancies [43], are known to be pivotal to the tumor microenvironment and are indeed widely expressed in progressive cancers [44–47]. Here, VIM is linked to neoplasm.