Indeed, a larger sample size would allow us to (a) explore the effect of confounding variables on YKL-40 prognostic and predictive potentials, including the role of comorbidities, such as autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases and synchronous/metachronous malignancies, and (b) evaluate more detailed and sophisticated scoring systems for YKL-40 tissue expression (i.e., unbiased artificial intelligence-based protein expression assessment). This evidence concerns the gene CHI3L1 and cardiovascular disorder.