Findings presented here now show that autophagy is required for THC-induced LMP and support the idea that the fusion of dihydroceramide-enriched autophagosomes with lysosomes leads in turn to a local increase in the proportion of dihydroceramides in specific subdomains of autolysosomes and lysosomes, thereby leading to membrane destabilization, LMP and the subsequent release of cathepsins into the cytoplasm of cancer cells. The gene discussed is CTSS; the disease is cancer.