CX3CL1 and colorectal carcinoma: However, in patients with colorectal carcinoma in clinical stages I-III, a lower expression of the CX3CL1-CX3CR1 axis in the primary tumor has been correlated to major metastasis to lymph nodes with worse prognosis; while patients with higher expression of CX3CL1-CX3CR1 in the neoplastic tissue had better 5-year survival 103.