HGF and neoplasm: TAMs secrete effector cytokines such as epidermal growth factor (EGF), platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and TGF-β, which can promote tumor cells proliferation and survival, based on a huge number of animal studies (Kennedy et al., 2013; Caux et al., 2016; Liu et al., 2018; Wang C. et al., 2018).