Fig 1: A, Relative expression of interleukin‐23 receptor (IL‐23R) in lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549, lung squamous carcinoma cell line H226, and lung immortalized cell line 16HBE. Original mean value of relative expression of 16HBE was 3.84 × 10−6. For simplification, we set the value of 16HBE as 1, and the other values of cell lines and tissues were corrected by the baseline. B, Each pair of data points connected by a line represent the relative expression of IL‐23R from tumor and adjacent noncancerous tissues of a single donor. Black line with gray block next to each group indicates median and 25%‐75% percentile. ***P < .001. C, Immunohistochemistry detected IL‐23R overexpression and sublocalization in lung cancer (LC) cell cytoplasm but not on membrane, stromal, or adjacent noncancer normal tissues. Tissue sections were derived from 2 patients with lung adenocarcinoma (T2aN1M1). The 10×, 20×, and 40 × microscopic field images were taken separately. D, Western blot analysis detected IL‐23R in lung adenocarcinoma tissues and paired noncancer tissues. Graph below shows relative expression of IL‐23R mRNA in the same patch of LC tissue pairs by quantitative PCR (qPCR). Values were corrected by the baseline of the relative expression level of 16HBE to 1. As internal standards, western blot analysis used β‐tubulin and qPCR used β‐actin. E, Interaction between IL‐23 and sIL‐23R in NSCLC patients’ serum. Optical density (OD) values of IL‐23 coated wells were significantly higher than control. ***P < .001