A pragmatic panel for early-phase studies would combine: (i) a communication burden for perivascular SPP1–CD44 and a mesenchymal-state readout in tumor cells; (ii) a spatial purinergic-axis metric quantifying CD39+ microglia–CD73+ tumor proximity; and (iii) circulating or tissue chemokine indices that track myeloid trafficking. This evidence concerns the gene CD44 and neoplasm.