Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and HER2/neu in stage II colon cancer and correlation with survival.

Monoclonal antibody-directed therapy has been used as an effective treatment for some cancers that overexpress HER2/neu and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Overexpression of the HER2/neu oncogene and VEGF has been reported to occur in adenocarcinomas of the colon. Assessing whether HER2/neu and VEGF overexpression could serve as prognostic indicators for stage II colon cancer may provide insight into optimal treatment following surgery.