However, some reports have suggested an opposite role of cGAS/STING pathway activation in tumor progression and metastasis, suggesting that cancer cells with elevated levels of cGAS/STING/IRF3 proteins show enhanced cGAS–STING pathway activation, which induces mitochondrial outer-membrane permeabilization and causes apoptotic cell death15,16. This evidence concerns the gene STING1 and neoplasm.