HGF and cancer: Moreover, cancer-associated fibrosis is marked by chronic inflammation within cyto/chemokines (i.e., IL-6, IL-8, IL-17A, and IL-1α), and growth factors (i.e., SDF-1, HGF, PDGF, and TGF-β) are released by both malignant and non-cancer cells, contributing to tumor cell proliferation and invasion.