DMGs between TH and YH were also enriched in several interesting pathways, which included HIF-1 signaling (AKT3, ANGPT2, EIF4E2, HK2, ICA, IGF1R, IL6R, and MAP2K1), pathways in cancer (AKT3, EPAS1, FADD, FGFR2, GRB2, KIT, MAP2K1, STAT5B, FOXO1, and SMAD2), phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K/protein kinase B (also known as AKT) signaling (FGFR2, MAP2K1, IL6R, KIT, IGF1R, ANGPT2, AKT3, and EIF4E2), and insulin signaling (MAP2K1, INPPL1, GRB2, HK2, ACACA, FOXO1, ACACB, PCK2, PPP1CB, PRKAR2A, PTPN1, AKT3, and EIF4E2) (Additional file 8). This evidence concerns the gene SMAD2 and cancer.