The putative role of TACE (tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α converting enzyme), an enzymatically active member of the ADAM sheddase family (ADAM17), during carcinogenesis has been attributed to its ability to shed membrane-tethered molecules crucial for tumour initiation and progression such as TNF-α (Black et al, 1997), L-selectin (Peschon et al, 1998), ALCAM (Rosso et al, 2007) transforming growth factor (TGF)-α (Kenny and Bissell, 2007) or type I TGF-β receptor (Liu et al, 2009). This evidence concerns the gene ADAM17 and neoplasm.