Moreover, our finding that TfR1 is markedly repressed in SPH, which show high expression of EMT markers relative to MON (Fig. 5), is consistent with the impaired EMT progression found in tumor cells treated with iron chelators, which induce TfR143, and with the recent demonstration that TfR1 inhibits EMT in intestinal epithelial cells44. Here, TFRC is linked to neoplasm.