The goal was: i) to define the trend of serum levels of IL-8, IL-6, TGFβ1, VEGF and MMPs, throughout the entire manifest process of colorectal carcinogenesis; ii) to compare the trend of the inflammatory cytokines IL-8 and IL-6 with that of C-reactive protein (CRP); iii) to characterize fully the behavior of TGFβ1RI and TGFβ1RII in tissue specimens from colorectal adenomas and different stages of adenocarcinomas. The gene discussed is CRP; the disease is adenocarcinoma.