C‐ets‐1 was the top candidate as this transcription factor has previously been described to synergize with SMAD3 (Lindemann et al., 2001) and its expression also correlated the most with expression of TGFBR2 as well as of MET in breast cancer cell lines (Fig. 4A, B, Tables S3 and S5). This evidence concerns the gene TGFBR2 and breast carcinoma.