TGF‐beta has been linked to poor prognosis in CRC as an independent biomarker across AJCC (American Joint Committee on Cancer) stages, and ligand expression levels correlate with TGF‐beta‐activated stromal cells that secrete a cocktail of additional pro‐metastatic factors (Calon et al., 2012) (Fig. 3). Here, TGFB1 is linked to colorectal carcinoma.