**Abstract**

Colon cancer incidence is increasing in young people. Even if, so far, colon cancer had a maximum incidence in the sixth and seventh decades of life, lately its incidence in people age 50 and younger is increasing. Thus, colon cancer still represents a major health problem despite constant research made in the field. Early detection of colon cancer is mandatory for an appropriate treatment of the disease and to attain increased overall survival. Even if various stem cell markers have been studied in order to evaluate their prognostic value in colon cancer cases, results in literature are heterogeneous, and no clear consensus has been drafted so far. This paper aims to review the most important stem cell markers identified in colon cancer and to establish their role in both cancer diagnosis and progression.

**Keywords:** colon, cancer, stem cell markers, CD133, CD44, CD166, EpCAM
