Interestingly, several of the identified genes are related to neuronal development or function including NTN3, and SERPINI1.Meanwhile, downregulated genes encoding for cell surface proteins included growth factors and receptors implicated in prostate development or homoeostasis (e.g. BDNF, FGFR2), as well as cell adhesion molecules (e.g. ITGB4, ITGA7, NCAM1) suggesting a disruption of normal cell attachment, cell–cell interactions and communication mechanisms in tumor cells (Fig. 4b). Here, ITGA7 is linked to neoplasm.