Fig. 7.

IL-6 is not required for postsurgical HCC recurrence.

(a) Representative picture of HCC in Il6KO mice. A single injection of 1·5 × 106 Hepa1–6 cells was administered to the spleen after the left lateral liver lobe was resected (or not, as a control). Data are representative of three independent experiments, n = 3 per group. (b) HCC burden in individual mice from the non-surgical (red) and surgical resection (blue) groups at autopsy, n = 7 per group. Data are representative of two independent experiments. The results are expressed as mean ± SEM. *p < 0·05 (unpaired Student's t-test). (c) Representative images of PCNA (IHC) staining in tumours from the indicated mice. Data are representative of three independent experiments. Scale bars, 100 μm. (d-f) Representative pictures of HCC samples in which tumour cells were directly injected into the left lateral lobe of the liver in three groups. Middle and right, Il6KO mice after surgical resection of tumours, with (right) or without (middle) napabucasin. Left, WT mouse after surgical tumour resection. Scale bar, 1 cm (d). The ratio of liver weight to body weight was calculated from the indicated groups at autopsy (e). In each mouse, individual tumours were classified according to their size (f). For the images in d and e, data are representative of three independent experiments, n ≥ 8 per group. The results are expressed as mean ± SEM. **p < 0·01 (unpaired Student's t-test). (g) Representative images of PCNA (IHC) staining in the tumour microenvironment in the livers of mice from the indicated groups. Scale bars, 100 μm. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)