Next, we found that the expression of these nine genes (VPS35, CEACAM6, CLDN4, CXCL1, EREG, HOXA13, LIF, MMP12 and ONECUT2) was significantly higher in GC tissues than in adjacent tissues (Fig. 1B), but only the expression of VPS35 was correlated with the prognosis of GC (Supplementary Fig. 1A). Here, LIF is linked to gastric cancer.