In addition, high expression of CREB5 or ATF2 could be frequently observed among the CRC patients with lymph node metastasis (CREB5: p < 0.001; ATF2: p = 0.011), distant metastasis (CREB5: p < 0.001; ATF2: p = 0.016) or III–IV TNM stage (CREB5: p < 0.001; ATF2: p = 0.008) (Supplementary Tables 3, 4). Here, ATF2 is linked to colorectal carcinoma.