CDH1 and cancer: Loss of AJ function through inhibition of E-cadherin was linked to cancer cell invasiveness more than two decades ago (Vleminckx et al., 1991), and these findings were further substantiated shortly thereafter by the discovery of inactivating germ line and somatic E-cadherin mutations in gastric carcinoma and breast cancer (Berx et al., 1995; Guilford et al., 1998).