CD44 and malignant colon neoplasm: In colon cancer HCT116 cells, knockdown of CD44 with small interference RNA substantially hampered cell proliferation, migration and invasion and enhanced cell apoptosis, accompanied by suppression of the phosphorylation of Akt and glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β), a decrease in the expression of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl, and upregulation of caspase-3 and caspase-9 [117].