Whereas cancerous epithelial cells from PDAC are forced into IL-8-induced quiescence by quiescent HSCs, activated HSCs fail to induce cancer cell quiescence, but rather support cancer cell proliferation by expressing growth factors such as VEGF,78 and are sufficient to promote a stem-like phenotype in pancreatic cancer cells by downregulating E-cadherin and inducing the expression of mesenchymal markers and nestin. This evidence concerns the gene VEGFA and cancer.