In the study by Belhadj et al., six genes were identified as significantly up-regulated in CRC (Refs.1),6 and in the study by Terradas et al., nine genes were identified as significantly up-regulated in CRC (Refs.2).7 As shown in the Venn diagram of Figure 1a, IL12RB1, POLE2, MRE11 and POT1 were predicted to be up-regulated in CRC in both studies. The gene discussed is POLE2; the disease is colorectal carcinoma.