The expression of many, maybe most of the "cancer genes" is associated with proliferation. There are not many genes that are upregulated in cancer tissue compared to normal, but is not associated with proliferation. This is a nice paper on the topic: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5748209/
The "general level of proliferation" in a sample can be estimated using RNASeq, these estimations usually referred as proliferation indexes. The proliferation index was determined using two methods:
- Venet D, Dumont JE, Detours V. Most random gene expression signatures are significantly associated with breast cancer outcome. PLoS Comput Biol. 2011; 7. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002240.
- Marie Locard-Paulet,Oana Palasca,Lars Juhl Jensen, Identifying the genes impacted by cell proliferation in proteomics and transcriptomics studies

Furthermore, the correlation with cell cycle-related genes is also represented in this report.

knitr::opts_chunk$set(echo=FALSE)

ACC

Venet PI ,ACC

Lars PI ,ACC

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,ACC

BLCA

Venet PI ,BLCA

Lars PI ,BLCA

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,BLCA

BRCA

Venet PI ,BRCA

Lars PI ,BRCA

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,BRCA

CESC

Venet PI ,CESC

Lars PI ,CESC

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,CESC

CHOL

Venet PI ,CHOL

Lars PI ,CHOL

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,CHOL

COAD

Venet PI ,COAD

Lars PI ,COAD

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,COAD

DLBC

Venet PI ,DLBC

Lars PI ,DLBC

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,DLBC

ESCA

Venet PI ,ESCA

Lars PI ,ESCA

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,ESCA

GBM

Venet PI ,GBM

Lars PI ,GBM

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,GBM

HNSC

Venet PI ,HNSC

Lars PI ,HNSC

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,HNSC

KICH

Venet PI ,KICH

Lars PI ,KICH

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,KICH

KIRC

Venet PI ,KIRC

Lars PI ,KIRC

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,KIRC

KIRP

Venet PI ,KIRP

Lars PI ,KIRP

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,KIRP

LGG

Venet PI ,LGG

Lars PI ,LGG

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,LGG

LIHC

Venet PI ,LIHC

Lars PI ,LIHC

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,LIHC

LUAD

Venet PI ,LUAD

Lars PI ,LUAD

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,LUAD

LUSC

Venet PI ,LUSC

Lars PI ,LUSC

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,LUSC

MESO

Venet PI ,MESO

Lars PI ,MESO

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,MESO

OV

Venet PI ,OV

Lars PI ,OV

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,OV

PAAD

Venet PI ,PAAD

Lars PI ,PAAD

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,PAAD

PCPG

Venet PI ,PCPG

Lars PI ,PCPG

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,PCPG

PRAD

Venet PI ,PRAD

Lars PI ,PRAD

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,PRAD

READ

Venet PI ,READ

Lars PI ,READ

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,READ

SARC

Venet PI ,SARC

Lars PI ,SARC

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,SARC

SKCM

Venet PI ,SKCM

Lars PI ,SKCM

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,SKCM

STAD

Venet PI ,STAD

Lars PI ,STAD

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,STAD

THCA

Venet PI ,THCA

Lars PI ,THCA

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,THCA

THYM

Venet PI ,THYM

Lars PI ,THYM

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,THYM

UCEC

Venet PI ,UCEC

Lars PI ,UCEC

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,UCEC

UCS

Venet PI ,UCS

Lars PI ,UCS

Cell cycle genes - Phase S ,UCS