Nanog is a homeodomain transcription factor and a key stem cell transcription factor. It is crucial for maintaining the self-renewal and pluripotency in normal embryonic stem cells, inhibiting differentiation [4,5]. Nanog is involved in multiple signaling pathways, such as JAK/STAT and Wnt/β-catenin pathways [2]. It plays a vital role in embryonic development, especially during the preimplantation development phase, and its expression progressively decreases during embryonic stem cells differentiation, regulating embryonic and fetal development [1].

In cancerogenesis, Nanog re-expression is detected, starting from precancerous lesions. High Nanog expression in cancer is associated with advanced stage, poor differentiation, worse overall survival, and resistance to treatment. It enables cancer cells to obtain stem-cell like properties, which contribute to expanding growth, tumor maintenance, metastasis formation, and tumor relapse [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. For example, in glioblastoma, forced expression of Nanog promotes the sphere formation and migration of GBM cells, enhancing the expression of SHH in the Hedgehog signaling pathway, and reduction of Nanog might have therapeutic benefits [6]. In ovarian cancer, Nanog is involved in tumorigenesis and chemoresistance, regulating the stemness of cancer stem cells [7].

In conclusion, Nanog is essential for normal development and its dysregulation is closely related to cancerogenesis. Research on Nanog, especially through functional studies in model organisms, helps to understand the mechanisms of embryonic development and cancer, providing potential therapeutic targets for cancer treatment.