PDK4 and cancer: Implicating the functional roles of PDK4, such as acting as a critical regulator of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and drug resistance of human cancers12, data from gene expression profiling interactive analysis with the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) and genotype-tissue expression (GTEx) databases indicated that PDK4 expression in cancer cells per se is associated with the poor prognosis of some, but not all cancer types (Supplementary Fig. 1e,f).