SPARC and cancer: CD24, a gene that is usually downregulated in cancer stem cell marker was upregulated.20 Other genes that were upregulated included epithelial cytokeratins, KRT18, KRT19, KRT6A, and KRT6B, as well as VIM1, a mesenchymal marker.21 Other upregulated genes include SPARC (osteonectin), a gene associated with EMT,22 and bone metastasis,23 and CAPG, a putative biomarker for bone metastasis.24