In support of the widely accepted belief that liver stiffness measurement is a strong predictor of HCC development, a number of studies have found that a stiffer matrix upregulates vascular endothelial growth factor expression in HCC cells,[36] promotes latent TGF‐β1 activation to support liver cancer development,[37] and enhances the proliferation, migration[38] and sorafenib resistance of HCC cells.[39] Using a 2D in vitro culture system with tunable stiffness, You et al. Here, TGFB1 is linked to liver cancer.