In our efforts to understand the molecular basis of treatment response in advanced cervical cancer, besides the BRCA pathway, we also found the fanconi anemia (FA) complementation group, FANCD2, FANCL, FANCM, FANCJ/BRIP1/BACH and FANCI, to be involved in intrinsic resistance to chemo-radiotherapy. Here, FANCL is linked to Friedreich ataxia.