The lack of responses observed here is compatible with the previous phase II study reported by Rothenberg et al (2005), in which 115 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer received either 250 or 500 mg of daily gefitinib and only one partial response was observed, although a trend towards decreased post-treatment levels of activated Akt and Ki67 was observed in patients with a progression-free survival higher than the median. The gene discussed is MKI67; the disease is metastatic colorectal cancer.