Normal human colon showed strong and distinct nuclear staining for Smad2 phosphorylation and weak staining for VEGFA in the crypt epithelial cells whereas the malignant epithelial cells in the adenocarcinoma cases displayed at most weak and diffused staining for Smad2 phosphorylation and strong staining for VEGFA by IHC analyses (Fig. 4A). Here, SMAD2 is linked to adenocarcinoma.