TNF and neoplasm: Inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-1 (IL-1) [31], interleukin-6 (IL-6) [32], transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) [33] and TNF-α [34], are important factors that constitute the tumour microenvironment and play important roles in tumour formation and metastasis, which can promote EMT in tumour cells [35].