KIAA1199 is a gene included in the Human Unidentified Gene-Encoded (HUGE) large protein database which contains more than 2,400 members identified in the Kazusa cDNA sequencing project. Early studies described KIAA1199 as an inner ear-specific protein in which 3 point mutations were found to be associated with non‑syndromic hearing loss. Recently, KIAA1199 has been found to play a central role in hyaluronan binding and depolymerisation, and a small number of studies indicate its senescence/apoptosis-promoting role. An increasing body of evidence suggests its involvement in cancer progression, metastasis and poor prognosis of patients with cancer as determined in clinical studies. It has also been shown, in vitro, that KIAA1199 influences the proliferation, adhesion, motility, invasiveness and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition of cancer cells. Pathway signalling analysis found that KIAA1199 is a likely target gene of the Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway. Therefore, KIAA1199 may be a new and prospective target for cancer therapy, although further in vitro and in vivo investigations are required.