To further examine the association between KCDEGs and tumor stage, the mRNA expression distribution of KCDEGs in patients with different tumor stage was investigated, and we can observe a trend of elevated expression of GJA1 [F = 2.4, Pr(>F) = 0.0499] and CPXM1 [F = 1.0, Pr(>F) = 0.406] with advanced stage, although CPXM1 was not significant (Figure 5B). Here, GJA1 is linked to neoplasm.