Genes corresponding to the hyper-DMPs were mainly enriched in cancer-related pathways, including EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor resistance, FoxO signaling, HCC, chemical carcinogenesis-receptor activation and cAMP signaling pathways, and pathways associated with the dysregulation of gene expression, such as the neurotrophin signaling pathway, the apelin signaling pathway, and the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway (Figure 2A,C, Supplementary Table S2). Here, APLN is linked to cancer.