Chemotherapeutic agents attenuate CXCL12- mediated migration of colon cancer cells by selecting for CXCR4-negative cells and increasing peptidase CD26

Recurrence of colorectal cancer (CRC) may arise due to the persistence of drug-resistant and cancer-initiating cells that survive exposure to chemotherapy. Proteins responsible for this recurrence include the chemokine receptor CXCR4, which is known to enable CRC metastasis, as well as the cancer-initiating cell marker and peptidase CD26, which terminates activity of its chemokine CXCL12.