Tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL/Apo2L) mediates rapid apoptosis in cancer cell lines of varied tissue origin (Wiley et al, 1995; Pitti et al, 1996) and has generated much interest as a potential therapeutic agent due to its apparent differential effects on normal and tumour cells (Wang and El-Deiry, 2003). Here, TNFSF10 is linked to cancer.