In addition, absence of SPARC in SPARC −/− mice promotes the growth of pancreatic and lung cancers (Brekken et al, 2003; Puolakkainen et al, 2004), thereby demonstrating that SPARC is capable of suppressing tumour growth in certain cancers due to endogenous expression of, or as a result of exogenous exposure to SPARC. The gene discussed is SPARC; the disease is cancer.