Colon cancer remains a major global health concern, ranking third among the most diagnosed cancers and the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. One critical factor that makes treating colon cancer challenging is the presence of cancer stem cells.

Though typically present in small populations, these powerful cells drive tumor growth, resist standard treatments, and often contribute to relapse. They achieve this through their “stemness,” a set of properties that enable these cells to self-renew and differentiate into other cell types. Thus, understanding how stemness might be controlled at the molecular level is essential for developing effective therapies for colon cancer.

Over the past two decades, researchers have identified several key molecules involved in both the development of the colon and the progression of colon cancer. Among them are CDX1 and CDX2, two homeobox transcription factors that help establish and maintain the identity of intestinal epithelial cells.