VEGFA and neoplasm: MSCs play an important role in promoting tumour angiogenesis through the release of high levels of cytokines and pro-angiogenic growth factors, including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2), IL-8, IL-6, angiopoietin, and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) (Feng and Chen, 2009; Du et al., 2016).