Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression has been shown to correlate with microvessel density in a number of solid tumours including prostate (Weidner et al, 1993), colon (Takahashi et al, 1995), lung (Mattern et al, 1996) and breast cancer (Linderholm et al, 1999). The gene discussed is VEGFA; the disease is breast carcinoma.