Apart from the well-established enzymatic function of telomerase, emerging evidence points towards non-telomeric roles of both TERT and TERC in tumorigenesis via regulation of tRNAs and tRNA derivatives, as well as activation or stabilization of multiple cancer relevant processes, such as Wnt-, ATM/ATR-, myc- and NF-kappa-B signaling pathways [85,86,87,88]. The gene discussed is TERT; the disease is cancer.