VEGF plays a critical role in tumorigenesis through promotion of neoangiogenesis.136 However, the susceptibility of HCT116 colon cancer cells to chemotherapeutic agents (5-fluorouracil, etoposide and doxorubicin) is not fully rescued by recombinant VEGF protein, which raises the possibility that VEGF mRNA exerts coding-independent functions. The gene discussed is VEGFA; the disease is malignant colon neoplasm.