VEGFA and cancer: Notably, the most predominant subpopulation of DCs in the TME is deemed to be immature DCs (iDCs) as cancer cells are able to preferentially recruit iDCs from peripheral blood vessels by producing a wealth of cytokines (e.g. VEGF, β-defensin, CXCL-12, HGF, and CXCL-8) (121).