COMP and cancer: Higher levels of COMP expression by the cancer cells and in the stroma were associated with the stage of the primary tumor (T-stage, p=0.001 for cancer cells, and p=0.002 for the stroma), regional lymph node metastasis (N-stage p=0.002 for cancer cells and p<0.001 for the stroma), and the presence of distant metastasis (M-stage, p=0.002 for cancer cells and p= 0.007 for the stroma; Table 1).