A method for the early diagnosing of selected adenocarcinomas in a human comprising the steps of removing a bodily sample from the human, and assaying the bodily sample for elevated expression of a specific gene. The gene being assayed for in the.[.,.]. bodily sample is the TGFB-4 gene (hereinafter referred to as the endometrial bleeding associated factor (ebaf) gene. The bodily sample can be tissue from a specific organ in the body, or a blood sample. Increased levels of ebaf in the sample relative to basal levels may be indicative of a mucinous adenocarcinoma of the colon or ovaries, or an adenocarcinoma of the testis.