Agents targeted at HAAH can inhibit the growth, motility and invasiveness of cancer cells:

• Down-regulation of HAAH expression using antisense- or siRNA-based compounds efficiently blocks cancer cell proliferation and motility, and reverts transformed cells to a more "normal" morphology.
  
  
• Anti-HAAH antibodies block cancer cell proliferation and motility in vitro, as well as inhibiting the invasive properties of the cell. Thus, these antibodies can be classified as both CYTOSTATIC and ANTI-METASTATIC agents.
  
  
• Upon binding to surface expressed HAAH, anti-HAAH antibodies are internalized by the cell. Internalization of the antibody HAAH complex is extremely important as it presents the possibility of utilizing anti-HAAH antibodies to deliver toxic agents to cancer cells facillitating the development of an immunoconjugate CYTOTOXIC drug.

HAAH has great potential as a serum biomarker for malignant disease. HAAH is shed by tumor cells allowing its detection in the blood stream of individuals with cancer. This fact has facilitated the development of several simple blood tests for HAAH. Such tests should have great advantage in that they will be non-invasive, inexpensive, and easily adapted by clinical testing laboratories and may be formatted for use in a doctor's office.