The frequent downregulation of sFRP1, and other Wnt antagonists (Gonzalez-Sancho et al, 2005; He et al, 2005), in colorectal carcinogenesis infers that tumour cells retain a requirement for Wnt signalling despite containing high levels of β-catenin and the reason for this is not clear at present. The gene discussed is SFRP1; the disease is neoplasm.