As shown in Fig. 3D, the top ligand pairs of cancer and paracancerous tissues in patient 1 included: VIM-CD44, COL1A1-CD44, COL1A1-ITGB1, B2M-CD3D, APP-CD74, RPS19-C5AR1; patient 2 top ligand pairs include: TIMP1-CD63, COL3A1-ITGB1, COL1A2ITGB1, VIM-CD44, COL1A1-CD44, SPP1-CD44, B2M-CD3D. Here, SPP1 is linked to cancer.