TGFB1 and gastric cancer: In DGC, particularly scirrhous gastric cancer, it was reported that secreted growth factors released by cancer cells, such as transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), and fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2), play key roles for activation of fibroblasts, which are the predominant stromal cells in the cancer microenvironment12.