While no differences between the study participants were observed in terms of the classical TH1 and TH2 subsets (Fig. 2d), we found a significantly higher frequency of pro-inflammatory TH17 T cells (CD4+, CD45RA−, CCR6+, CCR4+, CXCR3−, CD161+; P = 0.004, Welch’s t-test) among cancer patients compared to healthy individuals. This evidence concerns the gene CCR6 and cancer.