ASCL1 and lung cancer: We utilized publicly available TCGA RNA-seq data from lung cancer subtypes to identify transcription factors with the highest differential expression between SCLC (n = 79) and NSCLC (n = 1046) or WBC (n = 755) samples, and identified ASCL1 (Achaete-Scute Family basic helix-loop-helix Transcription Factor 1) as the gene most highly differentially expressed (>960 fold compared to NSCLC and WBC) (Fig. 5a).