In order to quantitatively assess the expression of the target genes (RECQL4, DOCK5, SPP1, RUNX2, RB1, CDKN1A, TP53, IBSP, LSAMP, MYC, TNFRSF1B, BMP2, HISTH2BE, FOS, CCNB1, and CDC5L) we performed qRT-PCR on the tumor cohort and human osteoblast samples (Additional file 1). This evidence concerns the gene SPP1 and neoplasm.