To corroborate the biological relevance of these 42 genes, we cross-matched them with six gene sets that were associated with CRC stemness in previous studies.32–35 These CRC stemness-related gene sets comprise a total of 2,141 unique genes (Supplementary Table 2), which include 20 (BCL2, EPHA4, FGF9, FOLR1, IL17RD, MEF2C, NKX2-1, NOG, NRP1, NRP2, PDCD4, PRICKLE1, RET, SEMA3A, SEMA3D, SEMA3F, SEMA4G, SEMA6A, TGFB1, TWIST1) of the 42 (47%) genes identified in our GO enrichment analysis, corroborating their potential role in CRC stemness (Supplementary Table 3). Here, NRP2 is linked to colorectal carcinoma.