On one hand, in line with our observations that hypoxia increases TGF-β expression and signaling in HCC cells, hypoxia triggers extracellular matrix-related protein expression in a TGF-β- and PI3K-dependent manner in pancreatic cancer cells24, or induces EMT through TGF-β autocrine signaling in gastric cancer cells25. Here, TGFB1 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.