In the canonical pathway analysis (Fig. 5b, Additional file 4: Figure S3 and Additional file 5: Table S2), we found these genes were enriched in some cancer-related signaling pathways such as IL-8 and PTEN signaling pathways, which were described in more details in Additional file 6: Figure S4 and Additional file 7: Figure S5 based on microarray data and literatures. This evidence concerns the gene CXCL8 and cancer.