ADAM9, a member of the ADAM (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase) family, is a membrane-anchored protease that promotes tumor progression in a large variety of cancers (17, –, 19) and is known to cleave several membrane proteins, including epidermal growth factor (EGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptor 2IIIb (FGFR2IIIb) (20), and VCAM-1 (21). This evidence concerns the gene EGF and cancer.