EPCAM and cancer: Furthermore, quantitative reverse-transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR) revealed that F1 and F2 cells exhibited a statistically significant decrease in expression of epithelial markers (CK20, EpCAM), and increased expression of mesenchymal (VIM), EMT transcription factors (SLUG, SNAI1) and cancer stem cell markers (ZEB1, L1CAM) (Fig. 1f).