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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Aug 1.
Published in final edited form as: J Oral Biosci. 2015 Aug 1;57(3):143–147. doi: 10.1016/j.job.2015.05.001

Figure 1. Current model of the interplay between inflammation and cancer.

Figure 1

A healthy cell sustains DNA damage resulting in an oncogenic mutation (intrinsic pathway). Growth of the incipient tumor is stimulated by the secretion of cytokines and growth factors from nearby immune cells (extrinsic pathway). These immune cells may have been activated due to unrelated chronic inflammation or due to chemokines secreted by the neoplastic cells.