Additionally, stage III activin (+) AOIs in the tumoral compartment were found to have the greatest expression of several markers of poor prognosis for CRC patients including CD163 (24.23 ± 22.39 normalized counts, n = 5) (Fig. 4D), FAP-α (1.95 ± 0.59 normalized counts, n = 5) (Fig. 4E), and PD-1 (5.79 ± 1.96 normalized counts, n = 5) which was significantly higher than activin (-) AOIs in the same compartment of stage III patient samples (CD163: 0.47 ± 0.019 normalized counts; FAP-α: 0.49 ± 0.20 normalized counts; PD-1: 0.68 ± 0.25 normalized counts, n = 5). This evidence concerns the gene INHBE and colorectal carcinoma.