In cholangiocarcinoma, a desmoplastic cancer of the biliary tree, treatment with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor erlotinib induced the generation of cells with mesenchymal properties and stem-like phenotypes with the upregulation of both IR and IGF1R and concomitantly increased the expression of unprocessed forms of IGF2, which have a similar binding affinity but higher bioavailability than mature IGF2. Here, EGFR is linked to biliary tract cancer.