A large clinical study [46] which enrolled 3178 patients with ischaemic stroke from the China Antihypertensive Trial in Acute Ischemic Stroke (CATIS) reported an association between high baseline serum Dkk-1 levels and poor prognosis one year after ischaemic stroke, suggesting that circular Dkk-1 might be a potential prognostic indicator for ischaemic stroke. The gene discussed is DKK1; the disease is ischemic stroke.