Furthermore, berberine inhibits the Hedgehog pathway by targeting SMO, the most successful molecular target for developing Hedgehog pathway anticancer drugs.454 It was reported berberine exerts strong potential in treating CRC with reducing the levels of SHH, PTCH1, SMO, GLI 1, enhancing the expression of suppressor of fused in vitro and in vivo, as well as retarding c-Myc downstream of Hedgehog signaling, and effectively improve the pathological profile of subcutaneous HCT116 xenograft tumor. The gene discussed is SMO; the disease is neoplasm.