Notably, a recent study unveiled that MELK was correlated with various immune cells, including CD8 + T cells, CD4 + T cells, and macrophages, in HCC through bioinformatics analysis [15], and our previous research also confirmed that treatment with OTS167, an inhibitor of MELK, effectively suppressed the infiltration of macrophages and interfered with their polarization in colitis-propelled carcinogenesis [16]. The gene discussed is MELK; the disease is colitis.