Using public scRNA-seq data of patients with colorectal cancer,49,50 we observed a significant negative correlation between the proportions of SPP1+ TAMs and CD74+ TAMs (Fig. 4i and Supplementary Fig. 7g–k), further supporting the distinct evolutionary paths of inflammatory (i.e., SPP1+) and antigen-presenting (i.e., CD74+) TAMs. Here, SPP1 is linked to colorectal cancer.