IL6 and neoplasm: The matricellular protein CCN2, known for mediating fibrosis in various organs including the liver (Hall-Glenn and Lyons, 2011; Jun and Lau, 2011; Kodama et al., 2011; Lipson et al., 2012), has also been shown to activate HSCs and promote tumor progression via HSC secretion of the IL-6 and STAT3 in vitro (Makino et al., 2018).