Zhao et al. (2011) demonstrated that this gene is expressed in the majority of breast cancers from United States or Chinese women but generally not expressed or at very low levels in normal breast tissue. They subsequently showed that HERV-K(HML-2) antibodies and mRNA are elevated in blood of patients at an early stage of this cancer type, and further increase in patients who are at risk of developing metastatis (Wang-Johanning et al., 2014). This evidence concerns the gene CLEC10A and breast carcinoma.