Representative IHC images of VCAN, cGAS, and STING for the stromal VCAN-high and -low groups are shown in Fig. 1A. Tumor cell-intrinsic cGAS and STING expression levels were significantly lower in the stromal VCAN-high group compared to the stromal VCAN-low group (Fig. 1B, C), suggesting a potential inverse correlation between stromal VCAN expression and tumor cell-intrinsic cGAS–STING expression in CRC. This evidence concerns the gene VCAN and colorectal carcinoma.