CD44 and cancer: LGALS9, CD45, HAVCR2, and CD44 also tended to be downregulated in the invasive group (Fig. 5F) and meanwhile our immunohistochemistry confirmed their reduced expression (Fig. 5G), suggesting that this signal was inactivated during the invasion, consistent with previous findings of an anti-proliferative (metastatic) effect of LGALS9 (-HAVCR2) on cancer cells [52].