Since the cloning and expression of HPSE in 1999, emerging evidence highlighted the involvement of HPSE in cancer progression, inflammation and angiogenesis (Fairbanks et al., 1999; Hulett et al., 1999; Kussie et al., 1999; Toyoshima and Nakajima, 1999; Vlodavsky et al., 1999). Here, HPSE is linked to cancer.