Overwhelming evidence showed that ATF3 was highly expressed and was closely related to cell migration in breast cancer.6, 18 Gokulnath et al. found that silencing of ATF3 expression could also decrease the production of MMP‐13 and Runx2 genes related to invasive and metastatic.18 However, previous studies revealed that the ethyl acetate fraction (EAFAD‐B) from Abeliophyllum distichum Nakai could resist cancer by up‐regulating ATF3 repression in colorectal cancer.19 In our study, differentially expressed genes were analysed by microarray. This evidence concerns the gene RUNX2 and colorectal cancer.