ZIC1 and colorectal cancer: However, knowledge regarding the role of ZIC in cancer is limited: ZIC1 was reported as a tumor -suppressor in gastric [30] and colorectal cancers [31] because of its down-regulated or silenced expression due to the promoter hypermethylation, while another group showed that ZIC1 is over-expressed and plays an oncogenic role in liposarcoma [32].