By real-time quantitative RT-PCR on mRNA isolated from normal and tumor tissues of 67 patients with colon cancer, they showed that Spry2 was downregulated in 72.7 % (16/22) of stage II, 91.3 % (21/23) of stage III, and 100 % (22/22) of stage IV tumors examined. This evidence concerns the gene SPRY2 and malignant colon neoplasm.