Vascular cell adhesion molecule‐1 (VCAM‐1) first attracted attention more than two decades ago as endothelial adhesion receptor with key function for leukocyte recruitment in term of cellular immune response. The early finding of VCAM‐1 binding to melanoma cells, and thus a suggested mechanistic contribution to metastatic spread, was the first and for a long time the only link of VCAM‐1 to cancer sciences. In the last few years, hallmarked by a growing insight into the molecular understanding of tumorigenicity and metastasis, an impressive variety of VCAM‐1 functionalities in cancer have been elucidated. The present review aims to provide a current overview of VCAM‐1 relevance for tumor growth, metastasis, angiogenesis, and related processes. By illustrating the intriguing role of VCAM‐1 in cancer disease, VCAM‐1 is suggested as a new and up to now underestimated target in cancer treatment and in clinical diagnosis of malignancies.