ADAM9 and hepatocellular carcinoma: ADAM9, a member of the ADAM family that is involved in various biological processes (Moss et al, 2001), was found to be overexpressed in prostate carcinoma cell lines, hepatocellular carcinoma and breast carcinoma (McCulloch et al, 2000; Le Pabic et al, 2003; O'Shea et al, 2003).