NOVA1 and neoplasm: [16–18] Recent studies showed that stromal spindle cells and fibroblasts actively regulate immune cells in the inflammatory process and are involved in immune escape of cancers.[16, 34, 35] In addition, fibroblasts and stromal spindle cells, or cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), are major components of the tissue matrix.[21, 35, 36] The extracellular matrix has been shown to be involved in tumor cell growth, angiogenesis, invasion, and immune escape.[34, 35] Decreased NOVA1 function in stromal spindle cells may also be involved in the escape of aggressive cancers from immune surveillance.