APOE and neoplasm: Overall, the significant differences in tumor size and particularly in recurrence rate suggest that this 3-gene expression signature (DEPTOR, APOE, APOC1, with the specified OR logic for APOE/APOC1) holds potential for distinguishing PTC patients with differing prognostic outcomes, broadly consistent with the prognostic implications derived from our primary bioinformatics analysis of OSPTCC subtypes.