Further comparison of PIWIL1 expression in EOCRC, LOCRC, and healthy tissues using the TCGA data and clinical specimens (a total of 18 pairs of colorectum tumor and control specimens; baseline information of the CRC patients is shown in Additional file 1: Table S6) found that PIWIL1 was upregulated in both EOCRC and LOCRC tissues (Fig. 4E–G). The gene discussed is PIWIL1; the disease is colorectal neoplasm.