In other studies however, CCN2 levels were higher in more advanced CRC stages (Ladwa et al. 2011; Guo et al. 2015), and activation of the TAZ-AXL-CCN2 axis in CRC was associated with higher stage, higher grade and poorer survival in CRC patients (Yuen et al. 2013; Zhang et al. 2016). Here, AXL is linked to colorectal carcinoma.