LGR5 and colorectal carcinoma: CRC organoid studies were initiated in 2009 when Sato et al. (11) demonstrated that Lgr5 stem cells in the small intestinal crypts could be the main driver of intestinal epithelial self-renewal and that the crypt-villus structure of the small intestine could be created from a single Lgr5(+) stem cell in culture under prolonged in vitro culture conditions.