In gastrulation of chick embryos, inhibition of autophagy results in developmental delay by means of modulation of EMT process.28 Autophagy is also required for the fibrogenesis induced by TGF‐β1 in human atrial myofibroblasts.29 On the other hand, while autophagy supports viability of metastatic cancer cells during EMT,30 it also acts to prevent or reverse the EMT phenotype of some cancer cells.31, 32 These observations define a complex interaction between autophagy and EMT, which is influenced by several aspects. The gene discussed is TGFB1; the disease is cancer.