Using spatial multi-omics technology, a novel subpopulation of cancer-associated fibroblasts (F5-CAF, marked by COL1A2/COL4A1/CTGF/FSTL1) was identified in HCC, which is spatially located around tumor nests and co-localizes with cancer cells exhibiting high stemness, driving liver cancer progression and poor prognosis by facilitating the existence of cancer stem cells (61). This evidence concerns the gene COL1A2 and cancer.