SP1 and cancer: Interestingly, during the early stages of carcinogenesis, high levels of circulating IL-6 may play a preventive role in tumor progression by activating basal transcription factors such as specificity protein 1 (Sp1) and CCAAT enhancer binding protein beta (C/EBP-β), also known as nuclear factor for IL-6 (NF-IL6), but during late stages of aggressive growth, IL-6 signaling may help cancer cells become more resistant to ablative therapy by inducing inflammatory transcription factors such as STAT and NF-κB[118-120].