Recently, ZIC1 has also been found to participate in the progression of human cancers, including medulloblastomas, endometrial cancers, and mesenchymal neoplasms.
Among those transcripts with a higher expression in medulloblastoma were the genes for ZIC1 protein and the OTX2 gene, both of which are expressed in the cerebellar germinal layers.
Furthermore, Zic protein was detected in medulloblastoma (26/29 cases), whereas no other tumors examined (over 70 cases including primitive neuroectodermal tumors) expressed this protein.