“…Similar to other epithelial cancers, cell adhesion molecules must play a role in the progression of ovarian cancer, especially since aberrant expression of various CAMs, such as mucins [11], integrins [12], CD44 [13], L1CAM [14], cadherin [15], claudins [16], EpCAM [17], ALCAM [18] and METCAM/MUC18 [19,20], has been associated with the malignant progression of ovarian cancer. Some of the CAMs may play a positive role, such as MUC4 [21], CD44 [22], L1CAM [23], ALCAM [18], and P-cadherin [24]; however, some a negative role, such as β3-integrin [25], E-cadherin [26], claudin-3, 4, &7 [27], EpCAM [28], and KAI1 [29], in the progression of ovarian cancer cells. We have been focusing our studies on the role of METCAM/MUC18 in the progression of several epithelial tumors, including epithelial ovarian tumors [30].…”