Importantly, given that PML is frequently lost in human cancer47, our study suggests that aberrant cytoplasmic retention of PP1α caused by PML loss or the amplification of PPP1CA might represent a common mechanism underlying MAPK activation in cancers that lack activating mutations or gene rearrangements among MAPK signaling components, such as breast cancer and CaP13–17,48,49. This evidence concerns the gene PPP1CA and cancer.