In an article published in EBioMedicine, Mao et al show an increased co-expression of the proteasome alpha 2 subunit (PSMA2, a proteasome gene) and the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) in cervical cancer models in T2D, which is attenuated by Exendin-4, a GLP-1R agonist [4]. Here, PSMA2 is linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus.