Fig. 2: Critical gene analysis of the onset period (from stage TA to I).

A The barrier height indicator identified the top ten promoting and inhibitory genes in cancer onset: among which the energy barrier height from TA to I was 4.6. \(\varDelta H\) greater than 0 (blue column) represents corresponding gene promoting the cancer onset process, and \(\varDelta H\) less than 0 (red column) represents corresponding gene inhibiting the cancer onset process (see Methods for detailed definition of \(\varDelta H\)). B The transition probability indicator detected the top ten promoting and inhibiting genes in cancer onset, in which the transition probability value was 81.3% when all gene expression information was included in the process from stage TA to I (see Methods for details). C The gene expression heatmap of the top ten promoting and inhibitory genes detected by barrier height indicator. D The gene expression heatmap of the top ten promoting and inhibitory genes detected by transition probability indicator. E Distribution of gene expression data with shared critical genes identified by the two indicators. Darker blue indicates lower expression, while darker yellow indicates higher expression. The expression values of KRT4 gene were relatively uniformly distributed. ATP12A was differentially expressed in TA samples but significantly reduced in other samples, which may be related to the pathogenesis. MMP3 showed significantly high expression in stages TA, III, and IV, while ADH4 was differentially expressed in stages TA and III.