**Abstract**

With estimated 700,000 deaths each year, colorectal carcinoma (CRC) continues to be the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Fortunately, the mortality of CRC is considered to be most avertable; hence, it is essential to develop new approaches for more accurate and early diagnosis of primary as well as metastatic CRC, including genetic and biomarker tests. In this regard, the intercellular junctions and the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) axis attract increasing attention, since they are involved in several stages of cancer and for their vital role in regulating cell survival and growth; furthermore, constituents of intercellular junctions and of the IGF axis could be used as tumor and/or metastasis markers, which are becoming the focus of increasing research activities. Our experimental results highlight the importance of gene expression changes in the tight junction proteins claudins, and in the IGF-binding proteins IGFBP3 and IGFBP7. They show additionally that claudins and IGFBPs cannot be simply defined in terms of favoring or antagonizing cancer progression but have additional properties and activities, which become apparent only in the context of liver colonization. Furthermore, their intensive modulation during the initial phase of liver colonization may suggest them as early metastasisrelated markers.

**Keywords:** colorectal cancer, liver metastasis, personalized medicine, influence on treatment, claudins, IGFBPs, tumor cell reisolation, metastasis marker
