Using an in vitro reporter system for lineage tracing, Oshimori and his colleagues (Oshimori et al., 2015) showed that very few TGF-β-responding squamous cell carcinoma stem cells (SCC-SCs) were sensitive to cisplatin treatment, suggesting that TGF-β signaling pathway mediated primary resistance in CSCs. Here, TGFB1 is linked to squamous cell carcinoma.