TAMs accumulated in CRCs are associated with tumor progression and the efficacy of therapeutics.5,6 To investigate the mechanism by which TAMs interact with the tumor microenvironment, CD14+CD11b+ peripheral blood cells and CD14+CD11b+CD206+ intra-tumoral human CRC-associated macrophages (hTAMs) were isolated from patients with CRC and subjected to RNA-seq analysis (Fig. 1a). The gene discussed is ITGAM; the disease is colorectal carcinoma.