IL6 and colorectal carcinoma: Accordingly, V-ASC-derived IL-6 and HGF released into V-ASC CM significantly boosted the expression of CD44v6 (Fig. 2i), a marker that identifies CRC cells characterized by a robust metastatic potential43, and even induced CD44v6- sphere cells to acquire CD44v6 expression (Fig. 2j and Supplementary Fig. 2e).