The interactions between cancer cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM) regulate cancer progression. The B 1C and B 1A integrins, two cytoplasmic variants of the B 1 integrin subfamily, are differentially expressed in prostate cancer. Using gene expression analysis, we show here that the B 1C variant, an inhibitor of cell proliferation, which is down-regulated in prostate cancer, up-regulates insulin-like growth factor-II (IGF-II) mRNA and protein levels. In contrast, B 1A does not affect IGF-II levels. We provide evidence that B 1C -mediated upregulation of IGF-II levels increases adhesion to Laminin-1, a basement membrane protein down-regulated in prostate cancer, and that the B 1C cytoplasmic domain contains the structural motif sufficient to increase cell adhesion to Laminin-1. This autocrine mechanism that locally supports cell adhesion to Laminin-1 via IGF-II is selectively regulated by the B 1 cytoplasmic domain via activation of the growth factor receptor binding protein 2-associated binder-1/SH2-containing protein-tyrosine phosphatase 2/phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathway. Thus, the concurrent local loss of B 1C integrin, of its ligand Laminin-1, and of IGF-II in the tumor microenvironment may promote prostate cancer cell invasion and metastasis by reducing cancer cell adhesive properties. It is, therefore, conceivable that reexpression of B 1C will be sufficient to revert a neoplastic phenotype to a nonproliferative and highly adherent normal phenotype. (Cancer Res 2006; 66(1): 331-42)