In colorectal cancer, where promoter SFRP methylation and functional studies in cell lines have implicated their role as tumour suppressive13, 14, we found that high expression of SFRP2 and SFRP4 is associated with poor patient outcomes (SFRP2: HR = 2.14 [1.27–3.58], p = 0.004; SFRP4: HR = 2.76 [1.25–6.08], p = 0.01). The gene discussed is SFRP4; the disease is colorectal cancer.