In addition, to establish if tumor-associated ECs behave like primary endothelial cells with regards to their BMP9 and TGFβ signaling capabilities, a clear next step in the field would be to isolate patient-derived tumor ECs and test their respective pSMAD1/5/8 and pSMAD2/3 outputs in response to BMP9 and TGFβ stimulation. Here, GDF2 is linked to neoplasm.