Furthermore, TGF-β stimulated the phosphorylation of Smad2 in scirrhous gastric cancer cells as previously reported (Komuro et al, 2009), but not in non-scirrhous gastric cancer cells, suggesting that TGF-β signalling is active in scirrhous gastric cancer, but not in non-scirrhous gastric cancer. Here, TGFB1 is linked to gastric cancer.