Although cytotoxic CD8+ T cells are a critical component of antitumor immune response, tumor cells can induce CD8+ T cell dysfunction through complex intercellular mechanisms, contributing to tumor immune escape in patients with ccRCC (Iwai et al., 2002; Wu et al., 2020; Borcherding et al., 2021). Here, CD8A is linked to nonpapillary renal cell carcinoma.