Notably, we also found that the expression of ZFHX4 was significantly negatively correlated with DNA replication (r =  − 0.23, p = 8.5 × 10−06), MYC targets (r =  − 0.27, p = 1.72 × 10−07), DNA repair (r =  − 0.29, p = 6.44 × 10−09) and tumor proliferation signature (r =  − 0.11, p = 0.032) (Fig. 7A, B, C and D), but significantly positively correlated with apoptosis (r = 0.41, p = 1.65 × 10−16) (Fig. 7E). Here, MYC is linked to neoplasm.