TNF and gastric cancer: In particular, TLR-4 (p = 0.019), NF-κB (p = 0.047), IL-1β (p = 0.0096), and TNF-α (p = 0.048) were significantly increased in tumor tissues at different stages of gastric cancer, suggesting that TLR-4 and its associated proinflammatory cytokines may play a key role in tumor initiation and progression [32].