IL30 overexpression, in PC3 cells (Fig. 1D), led to a significant upregulation of cancer driver genes, such as AKT1, ARNTL, CAV1, CAV2, IL6, and especially ERG (15.71 times), MKI67 (13.12 times), BCL2 (11.50 times) and IGF1 (16.89 times), whereas the tumor suppressors, MAX (− 2.37 times), CDH1 (− 7.24 times), TP53 (− 8.61 times), DKK3 (− 15.10 times) and SOCS3 (− 4.40 times) were downregulated (Fig. 2I). Here, ERG is linked to cancer.