Consistently, the weight of the subcutaneous tumors formed by the ZBTB18 overexpressing HCT116 and HT29 cells was significantly lower than in the tumors formed by the corresponding control sublines (Fig. 3d and Additional file 1: Fig. S10d), collectively demonstrating that reintroduction of ZBTB18 into colon cancer cells significantly reduced their growth. This evidence concerns the gene ZBTB18 and colonic neoplasm.