Other KLFs have been reported to be tumour suppressors or oncogenes, with their function dependent on tumour types or cancer stage.15 For example, KLF5 is growth promoting in non-transformed epithelial cells, while it has growth-inhibitory properties in colon tumour-derived cells.34 This difference of KLF5 effect was dependent on whether the cells expressed wild-type or mutant p53 owing to competition between KLF5 and p53 to bind p21 promoter.15, 35 Thus the discrepancy between KLF12 role as an oncogene or a tumour suppressor is likely to be context dependent. This evidence concerns the gene TP53 and neoplasm.