CAAs can influence the TME through direct contact with adjacent cells or in a paracrine manner through the production of adipokines, hormones and proinflammatory cytokines (i.e. CCL6, CCL2, CCL5, MMP, VEGF, TNF-α, insulin and leptin, to name a few) to facilitate cancer invasion and immune resistance (164). This evidence concerns the gene VEGFA and cancer.