Through a series of comparisons between all possible mRNA combinations, we found that the combining two specific mRNA markers (VEGF and CD133) achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.96 with 100% sensitivity, 80% specificity and 93% accuracy; hence, this was designated as the CRC signature (Fig. 3 and Table 3). The gene discussed is PROM1; the disease is colorectal carcinoma.