CCN2 and cancer: In addition, TGF-β induces the expression of cysteine-rich 61 (CYR61), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and high-mobility group box-1 (HMGB1), which facilitates chemotherapy resistance in cancers by promoting the expression of anti-apoptotic proteins (Hesler et al., 2016; Xian et al., 2017; Zhuang et al., 2017).