In colorectal tumours, K-Ras mutations have been associated with a more aggressive tumour phenotype (Smith et al, 2002) and reduced patient survival (Andreyev et al, 1998, 2001; Conlin et al, 2005), whereas B-Raf and PIK3CA mutations have also been associated with both disease pathogenesis and prognosis (Davies et al, 2002; Yuen et al, 2002; Calistri et al, 2005; McCubrey et al, 2006; Nicolantonio et al, 2008; Sartore-Bianchi et al, 2009; Baldus et al, 2010). The gene discussed is BRAF; the disease is neoplasm.