Importantly, cellular functional annotations associated with distant metastases such as cell migration and chemotaxis, which were downregulated in the 10-patient CTC-pBC cohort (Fig. 2c)—were significantly activated in the BCBM vs. no BCBM CTC cohorts (Fig. 4g); along with an increase of pro-inflammatory chemokines (TNF, IL1β, and NF-κB), immunomodulatory networks (CXCL8, CXCR4, CD86), and mitogenic growth factors (PDGF-BB) (Supplementary Table 5). This evidence concerns the gene CXCL8 and primary biliary cholangitis.