The present study centers on three strategically important compartments of colon carcinoma (CC) tissue (tumor center - invasive front - adjacent tumor-free soft tissue) and represents a systematic analysis of the expression of total and phosphorylated VEGFR-2 and its ligands VEGF-C and VEGF-D in the vasculature, tumor cells and inflammatory cells in relation to metastatic status. The gene discussed is VEGFD; the disease is colon carcinoma.