We found higher AXL and checkpoint ligand expression levels (PD-L1, PD-L2, etc.)in 2-NDBGhigh cells (Figs. 5f and 6; Supplementary Figs. 13 and 14), which points to a possibility that patients with high N/R ratios may have higher AXL and checkpoint ligand expression in their tumor tissues. This evidence concerns the gene CD274 and neoplasm.