DCLK1 and cancer: DCLK1 has recently gained widespread recognition as a CSC marker in the pancreatic, colon, and other cancers [127], besides being an accepted tuft cell marker in the small intestine [127, 128]. Studies have identified morphologically and functionally distinct subpopulations of tumor-initiating PC cells, in preinvasive (PanIN) and invasive pancreatic neoplasms, marked by the expression of DCLK1 and CSC-like properties [116].