Interaction analyses of the cancer stem cell phenotypes, T cells and stromal cells revealed that phenotypes with similar marker expression tended to more closely interact, such as ALDH1/CD44 with ALDH1/CD44/SOX9, ALDH1 with ALDH1/SOX9 and CD44 with CD44/SOX9 (Fig. 4A,B). This evidence concerns the gene SOX9 and cancer.