Correlations between TGF-β signaling and clinicopathological characteristics. A. The levels of SMAD4 associated with N stage, TNM stage, and age (years) in cancer tissues. B. The levels of p-SMAD1/5/9 were increased in CRC patients with tumor volume ≤ 5 cm than those whom tumor volume > 5cm in cancer tissues. C. In stroma, the levels of p-SMAD1/5/9 were increased in CRC patients with tumor volume ≤ 5 cm than those whom tumor volume > 5 cm. D. In normal tissues, TGFBRII was correlated with tumor volume. E. p-SMAD1/5/9 was associated with differentiation in normal tissues. H, High; M, Moderate; L, Low.