In most malignant neoplasms of epithelial origin, over-expression of Ep-CAM has been found and this is associated with a poor prognosis, however in the case of gastric cancer, some studies also suggest that Ep-CAM overexpression is associated with a better prognosis, and a consensus on the role of this protein has not been attained (23,24). The gene discussed is EPCAM; the disease is gastric cancer.