Table 3.

The influence of TGF-β on tumour microenvironment

Cytokine	The effect of enhancing anti-tumour response/use in cancer therapy	The effect of impairing anti-tumour response
TGF-β	TGF-β leading to tumour suppression functions through an EMT and mediated disruption of a lineage-specific transcriptional network [96]	Up-regulation of CXCR2 and TGF-β leads to changes in ovarian cancer towards a more invasive phenotype [111]
	Zyxin activation can play a critical role in regulation of Yap protein TGF-β and the Hippo pathway may be good therapeutic targets against cancer [97]	The PRRX2 gene may be involved in a mechanism contributing induction of TGF-β and in consequence invasion of epithelial mesenchymal transition in breast cancer [43]
	Salinomycin as an inhibitor of TGF-β1-induced EMT may be a new class of anti-cancer drugs [105]	The E2F5/p38/pSMAD3L axis plays an important role in converting tumour-suppressive TGF-β signalling into pro-tumorigenic signalling in prostate cancer cells Reduction of E2F5 and p38 genes leads to the arrest of prostate cancer cells in the G1 phase of the cell cycle [115]
	Breaking of the TGF-β/Crk axis may be an effective target of cancer therapy TGF-β increases CrkI which plays a central role for EMT [100]	B2M which is regulated via the TGF-β signalling pathway is a positive regulator in the proliferation, migration and invasion of ovarian cancer cells [116]
	Cdh1 could be a therapeutic target for endometrial cancer and other human cancers and shows inverse relationship between: Cks1/Skp2 and p27 and/or dysregulated TGF-β signalling [101]	TRIM25 promotes cell migration and invasion by activating the TGF-β pathway [117]
	TGF-βRII and FZD-7 inhibit proliferation and metastasis of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells [102]	TGF-β rather than activin is crucial for mediating IR-induced effects on cell motility [118]
	PX-866 and raloxifene downregulate the PI3K/Akt pathway and upregulate TGF-β and in consequence decrease proliferation of breast cancer cells [104]
	Androgen may inhibit expression of TGF-β in mesenchymal stem cells and blockade treatment in prostate cancer therapy [106]
	Silencing of the USP4 gene can inhibit invasion of cancer via the Relaxin/TGF-β1/Smad2/MMP-9 signal The USP4 gene is an attractive target for breast cancer therapy [107]
	Curcumin may inhibit invasion and metastasis of papillary thyroid cancer by suppressing the TGF-β/Smad2/3 pathway and down-regulating expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 genes [108]
	Nobiletin has an influence on TGF-β1/Smad3 signalling and prevents epithelial-mesenchymal transition [109]
	The TGF-β-PMEPA1 axis could be a new therapeutic target for breast cancer [110]
	SDPR expression is downregulated in breast cancer tissues and supresses breast cancer by blocking TGF-β-induced EMT [113]
	The Slug/Wnt-5b/MMP-10 signalling axis is stimulated by TGF-β in human oral squamous cell carcinoma and supresses expression of SDPR which could reduce cell proliferation, invasion and promote cell apoptosis [114]