Table S1. List of selected genes based on their involvement in the expansion of CSCs for custom PCR array.

No.	Various factors/mechanisms involved in the expansion of CSCs	Genes
1.	Stromal factors/growth factors/cytokines involved in CSC self-renewal, proliferation, maintenance, migration	IL-6, IL-8, TGF-β1, VEGFA, EGF, FGF2, CXCL12, PDGFD, IGF2, BMI1, HGF, TNF-α
2.	Genes related to Hypoxia and EMT- the mechanism involved in CSC expansion	HIF1A, ARNT, EPAS1, TAZ, SIAH1, SNAI1, SNAI2, TWIST1, SOX9, ZEB1, CDH1, CDH2, VIM
3.	Extracellular proteins involved in CSC expansion, self-renewal, maintenance of CSC niche	HAS1, HAS2, TNC, SPP1, LUM, SPARC, POSTN, COL6A3, S100A4, SDC1
4.	Signaling molecules involved in CSC expansion, self-renewal, maintenance	SMAD2, SMAD3, SMAD4, WNT3A, WNT5A, JAG1
5.	Chemokines/chemokine receptors involved in CSC self-renewal, maintenance	CXCR2, CXCR1, PPBP