β‐catenin (part of WNT pathway) expression is increased in cholesteatoma cells when compared with normal epithelium cells and we postulate that cholesteatoma, like otosclerosis, may be a result of mutation in FOXL1, given reported cases of familial cholesteatoma, including rare autosomal dominant families (Collins et al. 2020; Jennings et al. 2018). The gene discussed is FOXL1; the disease is cholesteatoma.