CD44 and colonic neoplasm: For instance, the difluorinated analog of curcumin, 3,4-difluoro-benzo-curcumin, designated as CDF, alone or in combination with 5-fluorouracil and oxaliplatin, was more potent than curcumin at reducing the number of chemoresistant HCT-116 and HT-29 colon cancer cells expressing CD44 and CD166 stem cell-like markers as well as inhibiting the growth and inducing the apoptosis and disintegration of colonospheres in vitro (Figure 3) [212].