The involvement of activin A in IL‐6 secretion has also been described in non‐cancerous cells, like mouse neutrophils, where the cells in response to LPS secrete IL‐6 in an activin A/SMAD3‐dependent manner.45 IL‐6 may act systemically and has been suggested to be one of the major contributors to cachexia.12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 46, 47, 48 We have shown that IL‐6 accelerates autophagy10 and this may in part explain the potent cachexia‐inducing effect of this cytokine. The gene discussed is SMAD3; the disease is Cachexia.