Although recent results strongly suggest a relationship between increasing desmoplastic stroma and the enhanced malignant behaviour of iCCA, the importance of ECM proteins in the pathogenesis of iCCA still have to be addressed.
Based on the DE genes, combined gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis showed the enhanced pathways of local adhesion, ECM-receptor interaction, and regulation of action cytoskeleton, suggesting the enhanced communication between ICC and the microenvironment.