Studies with mice lacking the TNC protein have been instrumental in revealing that high TNC levels enhance pathological phenotypes, such as chronic inflammation (e.g. of the joints), fibrosis (e.g. in the kidney) and cancer (Midwood et al., 2016; Bhattacharyya et al., 2022; Marzeda and Midwood, 2018; Lowy and Oskarsson, 2015). Here, TNC is linked to cancer.