Nodal plays an important role in angiogenesis, invasion and progression of cancer, as upregulation of Nodal caused a loss of E-cadherin and upregulated mesenchymal markers including N-cadherin, Twist1 and Vimentin, inducing EMT via the ERK pathway, thus played a promoting role [19], while suppression of Nodal expression reduced the clonogenicity, tumorigenesis and metastasis abilities of cancer cells [20, 21]. The gene discussed is NODAL; the disease is cancer.