Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second deadliest cancer worldwide, posing a great threat to human health and a social burden. Various genetic and epigenetic alterations can activate tumourigenesis-related signalling pathways, leading to CRC development and progression. Over the past two decades, the understanding of the role of S100 family proteins in different types of cancer has received great attention. S100 proteins, as intracellular and extracellular, play important roles in regulating various cellular processes, such as calcium homeostasis, apoptosis, tumour cell proliferation, invasion and motility. It is well documented that alteration in expression of S100 proteins can be associated with tumourigenesis and cancer progression. These proteins play important roles in CRC carcinogenesis by activating different signalling pathways, especially the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signalling pathway, which is involved in cell proliferation, invasion and migration. In this review, we describe the functions of S100 proteins in the context of inflammation, tumourigenesis, cancer progression, metastasis, and drug resistance in CRC. We also discuss the potential of targeting different S100 proteins as prognostic factors and therapeutic agents for CRC treatment. This narrative review will increase our understanding of the role of S100 proteins in the progression of CRC and provide insights into the use of S100 proteins as new biomarkers and therapeutic targets for CRC therapy.

The 25th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in November2014 is an appropriate occasion for reviewing its record of achievements andchallenges in protecting children's rights worldwide. Clear accomplishments tobuild on are the comprehensive nature of the Convention and its capacity toaccommodate the largely diverse contexts in which its provisions are to berealized. In addition, widespread and massive law reform is one of the mosttangible achievements stimulated by the Convention. Finally, the existence andperformance of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, charged with monitoringthe implementation of the Convention, has been assessed positively. Mostrecently, this was rewarded with the entry into force of the third OptionalProtocol to the Convention, which introduced communications procedures includingindividual and state complaints mechanisms. After having reviewed this record ofselected achievements critically, four selected major challenges that stillstand in the way of the fuller realization of the Convention will be presentedmore briefly. The main reason for this difference in emphasis is that, on thewhole, the achievements speak more significantly to issues concerning theprogressive development of international law while the challenges are, on thewhole, more of a practical nature. The latter are: the persistence of povertyand other root causes of many child rights problems; difficulties in permeatinginto the private – including domestic and corporate –sphere where a considerable number of child rights violations occur but whichare still hardly covered explicitly by international human rights law; andissues concerning the availability of data and resources.