Two independent groups observed that the marked susceptibility to experimentally induced colitis observed in Gas6−/− as well as in double Axl−/− Mer−/− mutant mice correlates with increased incidence of colon cancer in genetically (APCmin) as well as chemically induced colon cancer (AOM-DSS), resulting in larger tumors and reduced overall survival [69,153]. Here, AXL is linked to malignant colon neoplasm.