Guo discovered that THBS4 contributed to HCC invasion and migration by regulating ITGB1 through the FAK/PI3K/AKT pathway (Guo et al., 2020), and Chou et al. found that THBS4 had a similar effect in bladder cancer (Chou et al., 2021). Here, PTK2 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.