HPSE and cancer: Aberrant glycosylation is another hallmark of cancer that has been linked to invasion and metastasis and can be detected using lectin histochemistry.[17] An increased display of N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc), detected by the lectinHelix pomatia agglutinin (HPA) binding, has been linked to poor prognosis and an elevated metastatic capacity in a wide variety of cancers, including those of the breast.[18–21] Previously it was suggested that atypical glycans as well as the altered expression of glycosylation related genes may have implications in cells undergoing EMT.