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. Here, IL6 is linked to cancer.