TGFB1 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Those are unexpected findings because there are few reports in which increased production of TGF-β in liver CSCs is described and because there have been only a few studies on the effect of TGF-β on induction of stimulatory or suppressive DCs [26, 27] even though serum levels of TGF-β are increased in HCC patients [28] and TGF-β exerts systemic immune suppression and inhibits host immune surveillance [29, 30].