Chen et al. discovered that bone morphogenetic protein 9 (BMP9) promotes angiogenesis in hepatocellular carcinoma by activating the HIF-1α/VEGFA signaling pathway, and inhibiting BMP9 to regulate the HIF-1α/VEGFA signaling pathway may be a potential treatment option for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma [29]. Here, GDF2 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.