The microarray analysis identified that insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-binding protein 7 (IGFBP7), which has been reported to have a tumour-suppressive activity through the induction of apoptosis in some cancers, was a key gene related to the response to this therapy (Burger et al, 1998; Landberg et al, 2001; Mutaguchi et al, 2003; Sato et al, 2007; Lin et al, 2008; Wajapeyee et al, 2008). Here, IGFBP7 is linked to cancer.