IL6 and cancer: Concordant with these findings, we noticed that in co-cultured adipocytes, IL-6 mRNA expression was significantly elevated compared to adipocytes cultured alone (Fig. 6A), and our previous study showed adipocytes or cancer-associated adipocytes (CAAs) secreted IL-6 in the adipocyte-conditioned medium [33], suggesting that the crosstalk between TNBC cells and adipocytes enhances IL-6 expression in cancer-associated adipocytes (CAAs).