IL6 and hepatocellular carcinoma: The level of IL-6 mRNA in patients with HCC (median 0.371, interquartile range 0.173-0.671) was significantly higher than that in patients with CHB (median 0.203, interquartile range 0.108-0.354; P<0.001) and HCs (median 0.189, interquartile range 0.140-0.262; P=0.001).