NKX2-1 and lung cancer: NKX2-1-AS1, NAPSA, SFTA2, SFTPD, TRIM29, KRT5, and IRF6 had previously been identified to be associated with lung cancer development (Phelps, Lai & Mu, 2018; Xiao et al., 2017; Davé, Childs & Whitsett, 2004; Xu et al., 2020; Liu et al., 2021).