LIMS1 and cancer: After identifying the PINCH gene, Rearden's group in 2002 further analysed PINCH protein expression determined by immunohistochemistry using a polyclonal antibody against PINCH in human tissues, and observed that PINCH expression was markedly upregulated in the tumour-associated stroma of many common cancers including breast, prostate, lung, skin, and colon cancers, compared to the corresponding normal tissues [211].