NES and neoplasm: CD34 is abnormally expressed in the tumor microenvironment of colorectal cancer patients; when the cytoskeleton class VI intermediate filament protein nestin and CD34 are both overexpressed, patients survival rate is significantly improved, suggesting that nestin and CD34+ expression in the interstitial cells in colorectal cancer possess a potential protective role, which may be related to the immune function of the body (Tampakis et al., 2021).