Double-staining IHC analysis revealed that CAFs expressed PlGF/VEGF receptors (Fig. 2g), and NRP1+ CAF, VR1+ CAF, and VR2+ CAF were strongly negatively correlated with patient prognosis (r = −0.7199, p < 0.001; r = −0.6898, p < 0.001; r = −0.7131, p < 0.001, respectively) (Fig. 2h–j and Supplementary Fig. 2d, e), while NRP1+ CAF and VR1+ CAF positively correlated with tumor fibrosis measured by Masson’s trichrome+ area (r = 0.594, p = 0.006; r = 0.5353, p = 0.015 respectively) (Fig. 2k and Supplementary Fig. 2f, g). Here, PGF is linked to neoplasm.