SMAD3 and neoplasm: In our study, we also discovered that the up-regulated TCF12 could regulate TGFB1 and SMAD3, indicating that CEBPB might regulate TGFB1 and SMAD3 through TCF12. Previous studies have shown that TGFB1/SMAD3 can promote tumor cell migration, invasion and metastasis through inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition [41, 42].