CERK and cancer: During malignant transformation cancer cells undergo profound changes in sphingolipid metabolism resulting in abnormal expression of such metabolites as ceramide, sphinganine, sphingosine, sphingosine-1-phosphate, GalCer and enzymes: acid ceramidase, sphingosine kinase 1, S1P lyase, S1P phosphatase, ceramide kinase, serine palmitoyl-coA transferase, alkaline sphingomyelinase, GCS, and UGT8 [29].