In addition to the tumor metastasis promoting roles of Wnt5a, there is evidence indicating that increased Wnt5a expression is important for the suppression of metastasis in a variety of cancer types, including colon, hematopoietic, breast and thyroid cancers, as well as esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. The gene discussed is WNT5A; the disease is thyroid gland carcinoma.