Genes that show higher expression in astrocytoma compared to glioblastoma were CX3CL1, CSF1 (MCSF), CCL3 (MIP1α), CCL4 (MIP1β), TGFα, FLT3LG, CXCL5, CCL19 while KITLG (SCF) and NGF were equally expressed in the two tumor types (Supplementary Fig. 2c). This evidence concerns the gene NGF and astrocytoma (excluding glioblastoma).