ELAVL1 and cancer: Studies by us and other have previously shown that HuR regulates the expression of several oncoproteins such as actin, matrix metalloprotease (MMP)-9, urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and its receptor (uPAR), all of which are known to play an important role in cancer cell migration and invasion resulting in metastasis [16, 36, 37].