To investigate the effect of macrophage-secreting proteins on innate resistance of HCC to sorafenib, we induced the differentiation of THP-1 cells with PMA to produce macrophages (M0) and then polarised the macrophages with LPS/IFN-γ and IL-4/IL-13, respectively.35,36 THP-1-derived M0 macrophages showed grape-like shapes while M1-like macrophages developed bipolar morphology in contrast to M2-like macrophages with clear bipolar extensions (Fig. 1a). Here, IL13 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.