The adhesion molecules such as L1 cell adhesion molecule (L1CAM) mediated attachment of cancer cells to the vascular surface is critical for vessel co-option (Valiente et al., 2014), while the cancer cell motility is enhanced via activation of metabolic signaling pathways (Fack et al., 2015) and cytoskeleton elements such as Arp2/3 complex (Frentzas et al., 2016). The gene discussed is L1CAM; the disease is cancer.