Our data demonstrated that non-adherent spheroid body-forming cells from the gastric cancer cell line MKN-45 cultured in stem cell-conditioned medium possessed gastric CSC properties, such as persistent self-renewal, extensive proliferation, drug resistance, high tumorigenic capacity and overexpression of CSC-related genes and proteins (Oct4, Sox2, Nanog and CD44), compared with the parental cells. Here, NANOG is linked to gastric cancer.