Given that the forced expression of wild-type but not mutant podoplanin lacking platelet-aggregating ability led to the acquisition of metastatic ability of non-metastatic Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and enhanced the rate of tumour arrest in the lung, the platelet aggregation-inducing activity of podoplanin was suggested to be directly linked to its ability to facilitate metastasis formation32. This evidence concerns the gene PDPN and neoplasm.