Therefore, we lentivirally overexpressed HEYL in two patient-derived CRC spheroid cultures, NM1 and M1 (Fig. 2a, Additional file 2), showing distinct metastasis formation patterns after xenotransplantation into immune deficient NSG mice: After sub-renal capsular transplantation, wildtype M1 cells regularly disseminate into the bone marrow and form diffuse tumor infiltration of the neck (nuchal stroma metastasis) as well as distant metastases in the liver and the lungs. Here, HEYL is linked to colorectal carcinoma.