TSPAN13 and hepatocellular carcinoma: TSPAN13 expression has been demonstrated to be suppressed by certain miRNAs (66–68), which results in mesenchymal–epithelial transition (MET) and less tumor invasion and growth (69) The pleiotropic growth factor erythropoietin (EPO), on the other hand, has been shown to encourage the development of soft agar colonies in human hepatoma cells, indicating that it may play a part in conferring anoikis-resistance (70).