VEGFA and cancer: In cancer, HIF signaling affects several aspects of tumor cell biology that contribute to the cancerous characteristics, including angiogenesis induction through the upregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression, metabolic reprogramming through the enhancement of the Warburg effect, facilitation of cancer invasion and metastasis by driving epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and matrix remodeling patterns, and mediation of therapeutic resistance partly due to the effects on drug efflux pumps and DNA damage repair.