They determined that the expression of E‐selectin, vascular CAM‐1, activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM), intercellular CAM‐1, very late antigen‐4 (VLA‐4) and β4 integrin in ECs is significantly increased in the early stage of tumour seeding, and that the expression of the corresponding natural ligands is up‐regulated on metastatic tumour cells. The gene discussed is ALCAM; the disease is neoplasm.