Because the biological functions of Sdc1 potentially affect several steps in tumour progression, it is not surprising that a prognostic value has been assigned to changes in Sdc1 expression in several cancer types, including colorectal, gastric, pancreatic, prostate, lung, endometrial and ovarian cancers, as well as squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (for review, see Yip and coworkers [5]). The gene discussed is SDC1; the disease is ovarian carcinoma.