Interestingly, soluble uPAR and uPAR fragments are present in the blood of patients with different types of solid tumours, for example non-small cell lung cancer, breast, colorectal, prostate and ovarian cancer (Pappot et al, 1997; Stephens et al, 1997, 1999; Sier et al, 1998; Miyake et al, 1999), and are used as prognostic marker. The gene discussed is PLAUR; the disease is ovarian carcinoma.