Immunohistochemical analysis also revealed increased expression of several pro-inflammatory cytokines including tumour necrosis factor, IL-1, IL-6 [33], and CXCR4 [34] in vestibular schwannoma compared to a normal vestibular nerve, suggesting that perhaps the subgroups in our study represent tumours at different points along a spectrum from “normal nerve” to “aggressive tumour”. This evidence concerns the gene IL6 and neoplasm.