Serum levels of IL-6 and IL-8 were significantly higher in the subjects with ductal carcinoma than in the controls, and strongly correlated with clinical tumor stage, lymph node metastasis, and ER and HER2 antigen expression (p < 0.05).
In conclusion, these data support the hypothesis that IL-6 induces malignant features in Notch-3-expressing stem/progenitor cells from human ductal breast carcinoma and normal mammary gland.