This could most likely be attributable to the association between YKL-40 and cancer mortality although an association between YKL-40 levels and all-cause mortality in individuals representative of the general population has been documented previously in studies of both shorter duration of follow-up (5-6 years) [6], [26] and long term studies (16 years) [7] even when corrected for the influence of cancer [6]. The gene discussed is CHI3L1; the disease is cancer.