DCLK1 and cancer: For example, its interactions with the mutated KRAS protein have an important impact on the occurrence of pancreatic cancer [3,15]; it can enhance the pluripotency of intestinal tumors caused by Apc gene mutation [16,17]; and a loss of ALDH1B1, which is highly expressed in cancer stem cells of colorectal cancer and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, could lead to the downregulation of DCLK1 gene expression in colon cancer cells [18].