WNK2 and cancer: As shown in Fig. 5a, we further found that there were distinct changes in pathways related to cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis (mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK),22 P53,23) as well as in pathways related to cancer malignancy and stemness (nuclear factor кB (NFкB),24,25 Wnt,26 Hif1,27 and Hedgehog28).