NFKB1 and cancer: The inflammatory signals regulate mesenchymal and stromal cells and mesenchymal–cancer interactions and trigger re-differentiation or stemness of post-mitotic epithelia into tumor-initiating stem-like cells or cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are essential for tumorigenesis, metastasis, and resistance to therapy through gene regulation mediated by transcription factors (TFs) like NF-kB and STAT3, increasing the proportion of CSCs among the tumor cell population and thereby elevating tumor-invasive potential [167].