These controversies were due to variations in techniques used to assess the status of molecular markers, treatment modalities, underpowered study populations, admixture of different proportions of tumors with different pathologic stages, etc. Therefore, to identify markers which predict the clinical outcomes with greater accuracy, our group has developed large CRC databases and have previously demonstrated the potential value of p53nac, Bcl-2, MUC1 and p27kip-1 expression in predicting the survival of subgroups of patients with CRC (7, 9, 15, 16). The gene discussed is MUC1; the disease is colorectal carcinoma.