Protein modifications by the covalent linkage of ubiquitin have significant in-volvement in many cellular processes, including stress response, oncogenesis,viral infection, transcription, protein tuover, organelle biogenesis, DNA repair,cellular differentiation, and cell cycle control. Protein ubiquitination and subse-quent degradation by the proteasome require the participation of both ubiquitinating enzymes and deubiquitinating enzymes. Although deubiquitinatingenzymes constitute a large family in the ubiquitin system, the study of this class of proteins is still in its infant stage. Recent studies have revealed a variety of molecular and biological functions of deubiquitinating enzymes and their associa-tion with human diseases. In this review we will discuss the possible roles that deubiquitinating enzymes may play in cancers.