Robust protein–disease associations included established clinical screening markers such as prostate-specific antigen (referred to by Olink as KLK3) for prostate cancer (HR 3.11; p value 5.3 × 10−254), and markers of early tissue damage, such as the lung-specific surfactant protein D (SFTPD) for post-inflammatory pulmonary fibrosis (Ikeda et al, 2017), or the eye-specific protein crystallin beta B2 (CRYBB2) for cataract (HR 1.41, p value 3.8 × 10−97). Here, SFTPD is linked to prostate carcinoma.