MAL2 and neoplasm: Among them, genes associated with tumor metastasis and tumor cell proliferation, such as SPP1, GSTA1, MAL2, and MGST1, were highly expressed in LUSC, and significant enrichment of pathways associated with epithelial–stromal transformation was observed in the LUSC of spatial TME, thereby suggesting that LUSC exhibited a stronger invasive ability to transfer directly to the surrounding lymph nodes (Wu et al., 2021).