Previous studies have showed that cellular secretion of HSP90α from colorectal cancer cells was enhanced after serum starvation, and secreted HSP90α could be used to stimulate migration and invasion of other non-serum-starved cells, and the mechanism might be that secreted HSP90α acts through TCF12 expression to enhance CRC cell spreading (Chen et al., 2010; Chen et al., 2013). Here, TCF12 is linked to colorectal cancer.