CXCL8 and neoplasm: Due to the more than 100-fold increase of IL1B and IL8 expression in tumors from AA (relative to their non-tumor counterparts), we investigated if our cohorts differed in IL1B gene expression as well as the chemokine genes from the IL-1β pathway, CXCL1 and IL1RN. We hypothesized that increased level of expression in these genes lead to increased IL-1β production.