Nevertheless, our subsequent immunohistochemical analysis of 292 paired CRC specimens demonstrated that expression of NETO2 protein was significantly upregulated in the cancerous colorectal epithelial cells compared with the adjacent normal counterparts, in which 76.7 % (224/292) of the cancerous tissues presented moderate-strong staining of NETO2 protein, whereas only 24.3 % (71/292) of the adjacent normal tissues showed virtually the same immunoreactivity. This evidence concerns the gene NETO2 and colorectal carcinoma.