DKK1 and malignant colon neoplasm: This finding aligns with experimental evidence from Qi et al. [22], who demonstrated that HOXC6 was the most significantly upregulated gene in right-sided compared to left-sided colon cancer and functions as a master regulator orchestrating the DKK1/Wnt/β-catenin axis to promote metastasis through epithelial-mesenchymal transition.