Therefore, this study examined whether OW/OB women initiating treatment for BC showed higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α) than normal weight (NW) women in the weeks after surgery; and whether these brief interventions reduced levels of these cytokines over a 6-month period of primary treatment to a higher degree in OW/OB women vs NW women. Here, TNF is linked to breast cancer.