DCC (deleted in colorectal cancer) was first identified as a candidate tumor suppressor gene based on its absence or reduced expression in the majority of colorectal cancers. Loss of DCC expression was subsequently observed in cancers of the breast, endometrium, brain, pancreas and prostate, as well as in leukemias, neuroblastomas and male germ cell cancers. DCC is a 1447 amino acid transmembrane protein with highest expression in developing brain and neural tube and is suspected to play a role in mediating directional migration in the developing nervous system. Netrin-1, a chemoattractant for commissural axons in the spinal cord, has been identified as a ligand for DCC.