SPHK1 and inflammatory bowel disease: S1P is formed by two related sphingosine kinases, SphK1 and SphK2, and it has already been demonstrated that SphK1 and intracellular S1P maintain a persistent activation of NF-κB and STAT3 pathways that lead to IBD-CRC development (Kawamori et al., 2009; Liang et al., 2013).