Chronic inflammation is acknowledged as the cause of various human cancers.117,118 For example, patients with inflammatory bowel disease have an increased risk for colorectal cancer (CRC).119,120 The AUUUA instability element found in the mRNA of pfkfb3 is also found in several inflammatory cytokine mRNAs (for example, IL-1, IFN-γ and granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor, GM-CSF).34,35,121 The inflammatory cytokine IL-6 stimulates aerobic glycolysis and promotes cell proliferation and migration in CRC cells. Here, CSF2 is linked to inflammatory bowel disease.