MEX3A and reading: Further supporting this notion, correlation analysis between MEX3A and the altered genes in the TCGA COAD (colon adenocarcinoma) cohort (n = 391) and READ (rectal adenocarcinoma) cohort (n = 152) cohort using the Function module of LinkedOmics 34 revealed that MEX3A positively correlates with stemness-related genes, and negatively correlates with differentiation-related genes (Figure 4L).