We then employed leading-edge analysis to identify the 56 target genes of those common TFs (Additional file 13: Data 5) and integrated their genomic location, relative expression level across different cancer types, and corresponding TF-target regulatory network in Fig. 4C. For example, MTERF2, which has been demonstrated to be involved in mitochondrial gene transcription and metabolism and serve pivotal roles in the pathogenesis of various cancer types [40], was identified as a master TF driving the LGHO phenotype in 7 cancer types. The gene discussed is TF; the disease is cancer.