IL17A and hepatocellular carcinoma: Other proposed mechanisms by which elevated neutrophil count have been reported to promote tumor progression include increased CD163 and IL-17 tumor expression leading to increased peritumoral CD163-positive tumor-associated macrophages which have been shown to play key roles in facilitating metastasis [20], formation of neutrophil extracellular traps consisting of decondensed chromatin with inflammatory proteins that contribute to cancer progression [35], and HCC stem-like cells stimulation [36].