Fig. 2

The identification of pivotal modules demonstrating substantial associations with TNM staging within the TCGA COAD-READ dataset is outlined through the subsequent steps: A evaluation of the scale-free fit index (displayed on the left) and mean connectivity (presented on the right) across varying soft-threshold powers. B Presentation of an eigengene adjacency heatmap. C Depiction of a network heatmap plot featuring the principal modules. D Clustering of module eigengenes, with a distinctive red line marking the cut height (set at 0.3). E Formation of clustering dendrograms, aligning robust DEGs and DE-lncRNAs with their corresponding modules based on a unique dissimilarity measure (1-TOM). F Generation of a heatmap illustrating the correlation between module eigengenes and clinical attributes, specifically TNM staging, within the context of colorectal cancer (CRC). Each cell contains both the p-value and the correlation coefficient. G Illustration of a scatter plot emphasizing the paramount significance of the key module (blue module) in relation to CRC’s TNM staging