To analyze the contribution of podoplanin to tumour progression in LSCC, we knocked out podoplanin (PDPN) by using the CRISPR-Cas9 system29 in an LSCC cell line, PC-10, and confirmed knockout of podoplanin by Western blot and flow cytometric analysis (PC-10 ΔPDPN, Fig. 1a and Supplementary Fig. S1a). This evidence concerns the gene PDPN and neoplasm.