In contrast to short‐term TGF‐β‐exposed HCC cells, long‐term TGF‐β stimulation upregulated CXCL5 expression in collaboration with Axl in HLF‐T cells, whereas it failed to increase CXCL5 in SNU449‐T cells. Here, CXCL5 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.