COL1A1 and neoplasm: Our comparative qPCR analysis showed abundant COL1A1 overexpression in tumours (median RQ = 975.4, IQR 389.9–3172.7, N = 132) when compared to adjacent normal tissues (69.4, 29.8–235.6, N = 119, Mann–Whitney test, p < 1 × 10−4) (Fig. 1a).