It was revealed that the expression of PC marker Alb was 24.9-fold higher in PC than NPC fraction, while NPC markers Vim, Stab2, and CD163 in NPC were 8.1-fold, 8.5-fold, and 9.2-fold higher than PC fraction, respectively (Additional file 1: Fig. S1a). Here, CD163 is linked to nasopharyngeal carcinoma.