Since Elk-1 was previously shown to be important in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) maintenance of self-renewal capacity through co-occupation of promoters with ERK2 [29], and to regulate the promoter of CD133, a cell surface protein commonly used as a cancer stem cell marker [15], we addressed whether the cell context-dependent regulation was due to heterogenous nature of some cell lines used in terms of their tumorsphere forming abilities. The gene discussed is ELK1; the disease is cancer.