SPP1 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Our further analysis of single-cell data revealed that VM influences the tumor microenvironment in HCC that SPP1 positively correlates with the degree of hepatocellular malignancy during hepatocellular malignant transformation, and that endothelial cells, as a part of the tumor microenvironment, are involved in angiogenic signaling along with pro-angiogenic factors secreted by tumor cells (De Visser and Joyce, 2023).