Interestingly, certain ECM proteins or families of proteins (matricellular proteins such as tenascin-C, thrombospondins, periostin; fibrillar and fibril-associated collagens like collagens type I, III, and XII; ECM cross-linking enzymes of the lysyl oxidase and transglutaminase families) are consistently altered across different cancer types, opening the possibility of the existence of common ECM-dependent mechanisms being at play during tumor progression. The gene discussed is TNC; the disease is neoplasm.