Results from hierarchy clustering and linear regression analyses showed that the expression of tumor-associated ASC and IL-18 are closer to ALDH1 expression, NLRP3 and Caspase-1 are close to ALDH1 expression, and NLRP3, Caspase-1, ASC, and IL-18 are close to CD44 and BMI1 expression (Fig. 1e). Here, CD44 is linked to neoplasm.