We analyzed the associations between these genes and NE related genes expression in NSCLC based on TCGA database, and in SMAD4-mutant LUADs, the ratio of ASCL1-upregulated LUADs was higher than that in SMAD4-wildtype cases (75.0% vs. 34.4%, P = 0.027) especially under TP53 inactivation (Fig. 2C; Table 3). This evidence concerns the gene SMAD4 and non-small cell lung carcinoma.