SIRT5 can play a tumor-promoting role by desuccinylating substrates such as Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1), pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2), serine hydroxymethyltransferase2 (SHMT2), glutaminase (GLS), succinate dehydrogenase complex subunit A (SDHA) in the lung, liver, colon, breast and kidney cancers, respectively (Lin et al., 2013; Xiangyun et al., 2017; Chen et al., 2018; Greene et al., 2019; Ma et al., 2019). The gene discussed is GLS; the disease is kidney cancer.