Lee Brain dataset [38] indicated that both APLN and APLNR are significantly elevated in GBM tissue compared with normal neural stem cell (APLN: fold change = 5.632, p = 2.42E − 8, Figure 1(e); APLNR: fold change = 18.051, p = 4.14E − 10, Figure 1(f)). The gene discussed is APLN; the disease is glioblastoma.