MAPK8 and malignant colon neoplasm: In colon cancer, pharmacological inhibition of SphK2 by ABC294640 (Figure 3) inhibits growth and induces apoptosis in vitro by suppressing the activity of pro-survival AKT-mTOR signaling pathway and activating pro-apoptotic JNK pathway, and inhibits the growth of HT-29 colon cancer xenografts in nude mice [87], which indicates oncogenic role of SphK2 in colorectal tumorigenesis.