EGF and cancer: In a tumour angiogenesis SCID mouse model, it was observed that specific ablation of tumour-associated endothelial cells resulted in a reduction in head and neck CSCs.120 Moreover, the vascular endothelium in oral cancer has also been demonstrated to play an important role in tumour progression; for example, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and epidermal growth factor (EGF) secreted by vascular endothelial cells could promote the stemness of cancer cells in the perivascular niche and improve their vitality, enabling them to escape apoptosis.115,117