Further examination of top 25 downregulated genes in ALDH- vs. ALDH+ cells upon XIST KD identified IL-6 and IL-8 as the top two genes most significantly inhibited in ALDH- bulk tumor cells, and these two cytokine genes are also downregulated, to a lesser extent, in ALDH+ CSCs (Fig. 4B). Here, IL6 is linked to neoplasm.