In another study, HOXB5 was shown to transactivate metastatic-related genes such as C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) and integrin subunit beta 3 (ITGB3) promoter and propagate distant metastasis in CRC (Feng et al. 2021). Here, CXCR4 is linked to colorectal carcinoma.