CD44 and neoplasm: Of note, tumor-associated macrophages (TAM; Esbona et al., 2018) and CAFs (Sharon et al., 2015) are enriched in desmoplasia and are important source of Osteopontin, a glycoprotein that both interacts with CD44 and increases its levels (Rao et al., 2013; Sharon et al., 2015).