USP44 acts as a tumor suppressor by preventing chromosome segregation errors (Holland and Cleveland, 2012) via deubiquitylation of the anaphase promoting complex (APC) coactivator Cdc20 (Stegmeier et al., 2007a), and USP44 deletion leads to spontaneous tumor formation, preferentially in the lungs (Zhang Y. et al., 2012). Here, APC is linked to neoplasm.