TGFB1 and cancer: Accumulating evidence has revealed that arecoline stimulates inflammation, increases reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and activates multiple signaling pathways, including hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1), transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β), and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), thereby promoting fibrosis as well as cancer initiation, proliferation, and invasion (Gocol et al., 2023; Sharma et al., 2024; Shen et al., 2020; Singh and Chaturvedi, 2024; Xie et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2021).