VEGFA and hepatocellular carcinoma: In addition, hypoxia-inducible factors 1α (HIF-1α), are often closely associated with tumor progression, and they could promote the acquisition of a malignant phenotype in HCC by activating glycolysis and the transcription of angiogenic cytokines such as VEGF (Hamaguchi et al., 2008; Rigiracciolo et al., 2015).