IHH and cancer: To identify the molecular mechanism underlying hedgehog signaling activation, we examined expression of hedgehog ligands in the metastatic tumors as well as in the niche, and found elevated expression of IHH in cancer cells of metastatic liver tissues (Figure 1B,C, p < 0.005), indicating that inhibition of smoothened (e.g., BMS833923) may be effective in suppression of Hh signaling.