IL6 and cancer: OSM and IL-11 are both IL-6 family cytokines, which are expressed during inflammation and cancer.24 25 OSM is expressed by cancer-associated adipose tissue.26 In gliomas and breast cancer, OSM-mediated signaling was shown to be associated with poor prognosis and tumor aggressiveness.26–28 IL-11 has been investigated in various types of malignancies including gastric, colorectal, pancreatic, breast and endometrial cancers.