TNF and breast cancer: Lim et al. (2015) reported that alantolacone at 5 μM down-regulates STAT1 signaling in TNF-α and IFN-γ-stimulated cells. The STATs regulate various aspects of growth, survival, and differentiation in cells (Dai et al., 2006). Some studies demonstrated that STAT proteins are involved in the development and function of the immune system and play a role in maintaining immune tolerance (Dai et al., 2008). Chun et al. (2015) highlighted the ability of alantolactone to inhibit STAT3, which makes this compound a potential therapeutic agent against breast cancer.