The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that expression of COL1A1 and NCAM1 could be potential discriminators between cancer and corresponding normal tissues with AUC (area under curve) = 0.806 for COL1A1 and 0.677 for NCAM1. The combination of COL1A1 and NCAM1 expression provided a better differentiation condition with AUC = 0.829, sensitivity = 70.7% and specificity = 84.0% than that of individual COL1A1 or NCAM1 expression (Fig 6 and Table 3). Here, NCAM1 is linked to cancer.