Importantly, although TREM2 protein levels were heterogeneous, including intensity grades 1, 2, 3 and 4 for stage II and III (Figure 6B, graph), we found a prominent pattern in which TREM2 protein levels gradually decreased in a tumor stage-dependent manner (stage II: 27 of the 57 samples were classified as intensity 1 (47.4%); stage III: 28 of the 43 samples were classified as intensity 1 (65.1%), and 7 of the 7 samples were classified as intensity 1 (100%) (Figure 6B, graph), as shown in the representative images (Figure 6B, right panels)). Here, TREM2 is linked to neoplasm.