Further supporting our hypothesis, previous studies in other cancers have also suggested that tumor-adjacent tissue has distinct features that could provide prognostic information: hippo-related gene expression in hepatocellular carcinoma28, elevated mRNA levels of thymidylate synthase, vascular endothelial growth factor, and EGFR in rectal cancer29, different genes being expressed in prostate cancer30, and suppression of DMBT1 by cancer cells in squamous cell carcinomas31. Here, VEGFA is linked to neoplasm.