EPO and hepatocellular carcinoma: Early studies revealed that first generation Ciji-Hua’ai-Baosheng Formula can prolong life of mice with transplanted ascitic H22 hepatocellular carcinoma, inhibit tumor growth, antagonize the decrease of white blood cells and platelets following chemotherapy, promote the production and activity of erythropoietin (EPO) and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), maintain the stability of peripheral blood cells, and improve immune functions (Xi et al., 2014; Cheng et al., 2016; Xi et al., 2018).