In 2001, when St Croix et al. tried to identify the differentially expressed genes in tumor endothelial cells, they compared the gene expression patterns in endothelial cells derived from blood vessels of normal and malignant colorectal tissues and found that endosialin was one of the genes that was specifically expressed in tumor endothelial cells but barely expressed in normal tissues 14. This evidence concerns the gene CD248 and neoplasm.