PTPRC and cervical cancer: When evaluating the proportion of FLT4/MET/SLUG expressing cells within total CD45(-) CK(+) and CD45 (-) EpCAM (+) subsets (gates P6 and P7, respectively, Figure 14B), it turned out that it was cervical cancer stage IA where the majority of CD45 (-) EpCAM (+) cells and a substantial part of CD45 (-) CK (+) cells were FLT4 or MET positive (Figure S2), suggesting a role for these receptors in driving EMT program and sustaining aggressive invasive behavior of epithelial tumor cells and associated lymphangiogenesis.