IGFBP1 and cancer: Overall, except for IGFBP1, the expression of other IGFBPs showed significantly association with TMB in multiple cancers, especially IGFBP5 and IGFBP7, which were significantly correlated with TMB in 10 types of cancers, respectively, including LIHC, STAD, THYM, CESC, etc. Furthermore, IGFBPs were more negatively correlated with TMB in different cancers (Fig. 9A and Additional file 2: Fig. S3A).