It is noteworthy that previous attempts to combine mTOR inhibitors with cytotoxic agents were associated with an increased incidence of toxicity that included dose-limiting diarrhoea and stomatitis with 5-fluorouracil (Punt et al, 2003) and thrombocytopenia with gemcitabine (Pacey et al, 2004). The gene discussed is MTOR; the disease is Thrombocytopenia.