CLCF1 and cancer: Cardiotrophin-like cytokine factor (CLCF1) derived from CAF stimulates the production of C-X-C motif ligand 6 (CXCL6) and TGF-β, which not only escalate stemness properties of cancer cells but also stimulate CLCF1 expression in the CAF, thereby fostering a positive feedback loop that expedites malignancy (Song et al., 2021).