TNF and cancer: We also noticed that the amounts of IFN-γ and TNF-α released after stimulation with both the peptide mixes employed, the CD4+ T cell-stimulating Ag1 and the CD4+ and CD8+ T cell-stimulating Ag2, were higher in HCWs compared to cancer patients, thus suggesting a general impairment of the Th1 cell compartment in patients, as reported by others [24,60].