Expectedly, this study validated that CR-GC cells (SGC7901CDDP and BGC823CDDP) were prone to form spheres compared to their corresponding parental CS-GC cells (SGC7901 and BGC823) (P < 0.05, Fig. 3a), and the stem cell markers (SOX2, OCT4 and Nanog) were also upregulated in CR-GC cells instead of CS-GC cells (P < 0.05, Fig. 3b–e), suggesting that CSCs were enriched in CR-GC cells. This evidence concerns the gene NANOG and gastric cancer.