Interestingly, the inflammatory phenotype of esophageal SCC in L2-IL-1β mice is similar to that observed in the conditional KO model p120 ctn (catenin) of esophageal SCC, in which key factors such as GM-CSF, M-CSF, MCP-1 and TNFα are upregulated along with immature myeloid cell infiltration and desmoplasia within the tumor microenvironment24. Here, CSF2 is linked to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.