In summary (Fig. 2e), TGF-β1 exerts a strong suppressive effect on iCCA cell lines that is dependent on a functional canonical SMAD signalling, which represents an important difference with HCC, where cells can maintain an active canonical TGF-β signalling and still not respond to TGF-β suppressor effects. This evidence concerns the gene TGFB1 and hepatocellular carcinoma.