The induction of apoptosis and autophagy in cancer cells are known to be regulated by several mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) pathways, including the extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), c-Jun-NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 MAPK pathways [13, 23-25]. The gene discussed is WNK2; the disease is cancer.