The analysis of various cancer cell lines from Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) data demonstrated that TMEM52B mRNA expression was positively correlated with E-cadherin mRNA expression (n = 1156, r = 0.21, P = 5.03E− 13), whereas TMEM52B mRNA level was negatively correlated with vimentin mRNA (n = 1156, r = − 0.16, P = 3.33E− 08) (Fig. 8a). Here, VIM is linked to cancer.