Second, possession of a version of hyaluronan (a component of the extracellular matrix) that appears to confer high levels of cancer suppression in the naked mole rat [211] and an alternatively spliced form of heparanase that represses heparan sulfate degradation at the cell surface and in the extracellular matrix in the blind mole rat [212] suggest that these animals have adaptations for protecting the extracellular environment. This evidence concerns the gene HPSE and cancer.