Building on this conceptual breadth, subsequent studies have successfully repurposed mRNAsi in immune settings—for instance, an integrative analysis of colorectal cancer showed that higher mRNAsi values were strongly associated with activated memory CD4+ T cells, underscoring the index’s ability to reflect “stem-like” T-cell states (Ye et al., 2022). This evidence concerns the gene CD4 and colorectal cancer.