This hypothesis is supported by several considerations: (i) beclin-independent autophagy is invariably associated with cell death27,42; (ii) autophagic cell death is considered a major non-apoptotic cell death mechanism regulated by JNK43,44; (iii) in cancer cells, under certain conditions, a sustained JNK activation is crucial to induce autophagic cell death43,44; (iiii) during apoptosis, caspase-mediated cleavage of beclin-1 generates fragments that translocate to the mitochondria and induce apoptosis, resulting in an amplified apoptotic cell death45. This evidence concerns the gene MAPK8 and cancer.