In this study, nine top-ranked transcription factors (CREB1, NUCKS1, HOXB4, MYCN, MYC, PHF8, TRIM28, WT1, CUX1) (Fig. 2) were found to be significant in lung cancer (Table 1) [18–42], and three (CRX, GABP, and TCF3) were newly identified as potentially significant transcription factors in smoking-induced lung cancer. Here, HOXB4 is linked to lung carcinoma.