BMI1 and neoplasm: Figure 1 shows mRNA expression profiles of BMI1, TWIST1, ALDH1A1, CD133, and EpCAM in tumors and blood. Their relative mRNA expression ranged from 0.0001 to 16797 in tumors and from 0.002 to 46 in blood. Several associations between EMT (BMI1, TWIST1), CSC (ALDH1A1, CD133), and epithelial (EpCAM) marker expression within tumor, within blood, and between tumor and blood samples were identified (Table 2).