TNF and neoplasm: Interaction with host immune cells further accelerates tumor-promoting inflammation: E. coli engages the TLR4/NF-κB signaling axis to induce pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α, which sustain tumor-promoting microenvironments and facilitate angiogenesis (Lan et al., 2022; Zhuang et al., 2020).