Similarly, Galectin-3, a carbohydrate-binding protein with pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic function in the heart (65), stimulates tumor progression and metastatization (66), and osteopontin, a glycoprotein highly expressed in the post-ischemic heart (67) stimulates primary tumor cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and epithelial- mesenchymal transition (EMT) (68). Here, SPP1 is linked to neoplasm.