IL6 and cancer: To partially mimic the impact of factors secreted by the microenvironment on tumor progression, we evaluated the functional effects of the aforementioned cytokines (2.5 ng/mL for each of the following cytokines, TGF-β, IL-6, IL-8 and CCXL-16, for a total of 10 ng/mL) in two NSCL cancer cell lines, as well as A549 and Calu-1 arising from an adenocarcinoma and an epidermoid carcinoma, respectively, as they represent the most common histotypes of NSCLC.